Rick Skwiot

I am so impressed! I just finished reading Rick Skiwiot’s Fail last night. Now I want to read all the rest of his books. This book came out at the right time. You cannot help but to think of the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri. It has Lieutenant Carlo Gabriel assigned to a missing person case but the real story turns out to be much more.

Because of a past disgrace, Gabriel is sent to the North Side of St. Louis, Missouri. This is crime noir at its best. Gabriel is street smart, used to the bad guys winning. At this point, he just wants to find the missing person and be sent back to the city and later retire in Mexico. Gabriel grew up facing racial prejudice, his father was black, his mother Hispanic. He meets a young devout Catholic and super idealist English professor, who wants to take on the massive corruption that he has uncovered.

There are so many facets to this diamond of a book. Poverty, racism, bribery, money laundering, adultery, religion, different shades of morality. The pacing is excellent and the story draws you in quickly but you cannot count on the Gabriel. What will he decide to do? So much of this book is written so beautifully. It is sharp at debunking several myths too. For example, a high school student in the North St. Louis school system cannot write a grammatically correct sentence. Yet, later the English teacher finds that this same student is a chess whiz. His inability to write is not due to a lack of intelligence. The juxtaposition of street worn policeman with idealist teacher is a treasure.

I highly recommend Fail to all who love mysteries and brilliant writing.

I received an ARC of this book from Partner’s In Crime Tours but that in no way influenced my review. My thoughts and feelings about Fail are entirely my own.… (más)