For readers unfamiliar with T. Jefferson Parker and his 12 previous novels, here is a wake-up call: Read his newest book, “The Fallen.” A former journalist, Parker made the New York Times best-seller list in 1986 with “Laguna Heat,” his first book. That was just the beginning; since 2001, two of his novels have won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award. Read “The Fallen” and understand why.
You have to admire an experienced author who in the first four pages has what appears to be the main character falling to his death from a sixth-story hotel room. It gives frightening new meaning to the title. Because falling is one of humans’ most primal fears, this opener is a real grabber. His description of the thoughts of a man about to die is at once eloquent and mundane.
“The Falling Detective” is the name given to Robbie Brownlaw by the media and co-workers. After Robbie rescued an elderly woman from a fire, he miraculously survived being thrown out the window by a crazed man. Although the prologue describes the event in third-person, Robbie tells the rest of the story in first-person.
A native of San Diego, Robbie is 29 and living with his wife, Gina, in the house where he was born and raised. He is the youngest detective in homicide, a promotion from the fraud squad assignment where he was three years ago, before the fall. He got the promotion as a kind of reward for living. Robbie is an earnest, likable and honest member of the San Diego Police Department.
Robbie has synesthesia as a result of his injuries, a rare condition that affects the senses. When people talk to him he sees four to eight shapes float out of the speaker’s mouth. This is an involuntary mixup of senses and perception.
While recuperating, he started a chart to understand what the shapes and colors meant. Red squares mean lies or deception, pale blue ovals sincerity, black triangles dread and green trapezoids envy.
This ability serves Robbie as a primitive lie detector, which may be why he and partner McKenzie Cortez have such a high clearance rate. McKenzie is a tough half-Latina who is no-nonsense in her approach to the job.
After she meets Robbie and learns of his situation, the crime is revealed and the fun begins. A body is found near Balboa Park. It turns out to be that of Garrett Asplundh, a former police sergeant in the Professional Standards Unit of Internal Affairs. Although the case appears to be a suicide, the forensics soon rule that out.
After the death of his 3-year-old daughter nine months previously, Garrett took a lower-stress job as an investigator for the San Diego Authority Enforcement Unit. So he wasn’t really a cop, but he worked in an oversight group that watches San Diego personnel, politicians and administrators.
During the investigation, the mix of motives for Garrett’s death is varied. Besides his job, there are the complications of a broken marriage and drinking too much. Robbie finds that Garrett is involved in two active investigations, one having to do with anti-terrorism and the other with the possible involvement of city and police officials with a sophisticated madame and her girls.
As the story develops and the danger and temptations grow, Robbie must face his own loss and fears.
Although the story is a serious one of loss and death, Parker uses light humor deftly and effectively. He has created a wonderful story with compassionate characters, plenty of action, thoughtful deduction and a shocking rationale for murder.
Leslie Doran is a freelance writer in Durango.
The Fallen
By T. Jefferson Parker
Morrow, 336 pages, $24.95
