Bullet in the Blue Sky

Bullet in the Blue Sky (which is also a song title by U2) is Bill Larkin’s second full-length novel about Deputy Kevin Schmidt, aka Schmitty, from Orange County, California. But this book opens with a dynamic chapter about Kira Boyd, the Director of the California Office of emergency Services. She was feeling pretty good about herself, and then felt even better when a massive earthquake measuring 8.8 struck Los Angeles causing widespread devastation. Because he happened to be in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time, Schmitty was directed by Deputy Chief Jenkins to head with a team from downtown L.A. to the Seal Beach to find Detective Gavin Shaw.

The order to find Shaw made no sense to anyone, especially considering that the city and all means of transportation and communication was a mess. In the midst of the earthquake damage was rioting and looting, as well as gunfire directed at anyone who seemed out of place. While citizens were scrambling to handle their own immediate needs, the criminals were taking advantage of the situation.

Have you heard of induced seismicity? No, me either. It means man-made earthquakes, and that was the premise of this book, a terrorist operation against both the U.S. and Russia in an attempt to suck them both into a war. This is an action-driven, fast-paced, plot-driven novel. Larkin’s depiction of the destruction of L.A. was impressive and believable. The main plot and all subplots are brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Kira Boyd’s role was fully explained. The secret relationship between Jenkins and Shaw was very believable. By the end of the book, the love interest of Schmitty and Officer Shawna Hogan was more fully developed and promises for more good action in future books.

Detective Lessons

Bill Larkin has mostly written short stories and novellas, but this is a full-length crime novel set in Los Angeles. Orange County Deputy Kevin Schmidt (Schmitty) is essentially on the outs with his department, having been parked on a patrol boat in Newport Harbor where he is supposedly safe from seeing any meaningful action. Of course, things don’t work out that way. Billionaire real estate developer Mac Whelan can’t find his son, Jimmy, who Schmitty knew from high school, and Mac enlists him to help. He accepts even though it is against the rules to do such work outside the department. Mac demands that Schmitty team up with the beautiful private investigator Megan McCann who plays by her own set of rules, and neither of them is initially happy about this partnership. In the process of looking for Jimmy, they uncover a complex real estate scheme against Mac, but they also uncover Mac’s dark history that dates back to some illegal activities in the 80s in Cabo San Lucas. In the course of the story, the ultimately heroic Schmitty alienates just about everyone except Megan.

This is a plot-driven story which is well conceived. At times, the dialogue gets a little cheesy, but it’s funny and it helps create Schmitty as a law enforcement outcast, a do-it-my-own-way kind of guy. For example, in his initial encounter with Megan, Schmitty says, “Let’s take your car. Hey, girls always know within two minutes whether they want to sleep with a guy, marry him, or kick him in the balls. So tell me, how am I doing?” Megan responds, “Get yourself a cup.” When Schmitty later asks Megan about a low-life they’ve just encountered, she said, “Throw out the sliminess and the fact that you can’t trust him, and he’s a really sweet guy.”

The story is entertaining and the protagonists are likeable. The book could keep you entertained on a cross country flight. This one could be the start of a series of novels about these characters – I hope so. I’ll stay tuned for another book by Larkin.