Field Training  by Patrick O’Donnell and Michael Anderle

Being a police procedural, this book features justice. No real redemption or vengeance. And actually, one knock against it, no real story. Most police procedurals I’ve read have an underlying story carrying through it. Usually, a major case that propels the story forward. Many little stories in this one.

The book reads like an author’s first fiction novel. The narrator is heavy. It’s told from an omniscient point of view. I’m not sure if that was intentional, or just a lack of understanding of point of view. Lots of head hopping and lots of narrator commentary explaining things. I’m not criticizing this technique, just mentioning it because some readers get hung up on point of view.

It also reads like a journal of a rookie police officer going through their field training, which is the first twelve weeks after joining a police force. This one is set in Milwaukee and Michael Collins has been assigned to an inner-city precinct, thus lots of crime. Most of the story revolves around him, though we do get some tangents into the lives of some of the other detectives and police officers.

The real value in this book is the intense detail of police procedural work. I think writers may appreciate this book and series more than casual crime fiction readers because of that detail. For me, that is what kept me reading. Again, with no real story to carry it forward, it was the details that were of most interest. The cases that Michael works are interesting. Some are intense and exciting. These stories pull from the experience of Patrick O’Donnell. I listen to his podcast Cops and Writers, and I heard him interviewed where he told about his police background. Many of the stories O’Donnell told paralleled the adventures of Michael Collins.

I bought this book and the other three in the series for $0.99. That alone makes it worth the purchase. And again, if you’re interested in police procedure, it’s worth the read. I started the second novel and am happy to see some improvement on point of view. Seems to be more from Michael’s point of view. However, there are still the asides by the narrator to explain procedure, codes, techniques, and cop slang. One humorous aspect of the book is whenever a new character is introduced, we get a physical description of the person just like a cop would describe someone in their report.

This book has a lot of profanity. The violence is not over the top and there is no sex. I’ll rank this one number eight. Not as good as most of the rest I’ve read this year, but again, not a bad book. Just not well-polished.

1. The Record Keeper by Charles Martin
2. The Samaritan’s Patient by Chevron Ross
3. The Maid by Nita Prose
4. Where is My Sister by Jane Daly
5. The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman
6. A Vanishing Act by Edwina Kiernan
7. Cali’s Hope by John Matthew Walker
8. Field Training by Patrick O’Donnell
9. Deadly Pursuit by Elle Gray

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