Tracy Crosswhite’s ordinary night patrolling her Seattle beat becomes front page news when she responds to a domestic disturbance call that turns into a hostage crisis.
In this prequel short story to Robert Dugoni’s #1 Kindle-bestselling novel, My Sister’s Grave, Tracy Crosswhite is a young patrol officer, paying her dues, keeping her head down, and hoping a solid record will get her promoted … record will get her promoted to detective. While years have passed since the disappearance of Tracy’s sister, the experience has made her one of the city’s most dedicated cops.
Reporter Tevia Kushman is shadowing Tracy on a ride-along seeking to follow-up on a recent (and nasty) exposé about the Seattle PD’s treatment of female cops. Young and ambitious, Tevia is hoping for a juicy scoop on the gender politics of the PD, but may get a much bigger story than she bargained for…
Neither woman expects a routine-sounding call to turn into something dangerous, until Tracy walks into a domestic dispute and finds herself looking down the barrel of a shot-gun. No stranger to high-pressure situations, Tracy must draw on more than just her academy training and lightning-fast shooting skills to find a way to talk down—or take out—the volatile man holding the gun.
Praise for Robert Dugoni:
“John Grisham, move over.”—The Seattle Times
“Dugoni is a superb storyteller, and his courtroom drama shines…this “Grave’’ is one to get lost in.”— The Boston Globe on My Sister’s Grave
“Combines the best of a police procedural with a legal thriller, and the end result is outstanding . . . Dugoni continues to deliver emotional and gut-wrenching, character-driven suspense stories that will resonate with any fan of the thriller genre.”—Library Journal starred review of My Sister’s Grave, one of LJ’s picks for Best Thriller of 2014
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Third Watch (Tracy Crosswhite, #0.5), my second read from author Robert Dugoni. Outstanding 47-page police fiction. I purchased a Kindle copy of this book in preparation for reading My Sister’s Grave & am voluntarily reading & reviewing it. I look forward to reading more from this author just as soon as I get them. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
Pre-quel perfection.
Nice to get a small glimpse of Ms Crosswhite before she became the first female homicide detective. Just wish it had been slightly longer so we could’ve experienced her meeting Kins.
Very much enjoy the Tracy Crosswhite series. Have read most of them. Robert Dugoni is a great author who makes you want to read the next book in the series to see where the story is going.
Writing so good you can smell the sweat!
Ride with Tracy on her beat and you are right there. Edge of your seat happenings to keep you turning pages, as usual.
An Important Inflection Point for Terry Crosswhite
This short story opens with Terry Crosswhite in her sixth year as a patrol officer. Because of a recent TV piece on the police department routinely harassing, teasing and passing over for promotion its female officers, Terry is chosen to host a freelance journalist for a drive along. It is during this patrol a significant event occurs in Terry’s career to date.
The whole first chapter really is background material on how Terry reached this point in her life and career. Terry opens up to the journalist quite extensively both personally and professionally. Much of this material has not been included before the Terry Crosswhite series. This chapter can be considered a gold nugget in Terry’s overall B-storyline. This chapter ends with a call that will change the direction of her career.
For aspects of novels objectionable to some readers, there is not any vulgar language and only a handful of words that I consider only mildly rude. There should not be any issues for all readers. As for violence, there is only one scene whose narrative unfolds in the more edgy as it occurs. High tension is maintained as at any moment it could erupt into violence and death in the blink of an eye.
This story actually a very short story. It is listed as being 48 pages but ended after 29 pages. The first two chapters of “Her Final Breath” fill out the rest of this book. As for this short story, my attention was captured even during the first essentially background first chapter. Since I have read the entire Terry Crosswhite series to date, she is a character of interest to me so that capturing my interest probably was easier than usual. The capstone aspect of this short story is the ending. Did I enjoy it? The answer is definitely yes. I will state that it was a very Terry Crosswhite ending! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this short story. I recommend reading it. I rate it with five stars.
I did discover through an ad at the end of the short story that the next one, The Last Line, will be published on October 21, 2021. I am definitely looking forward to reading it.
In Third Watch , Robert Dugoni uses a short story to continue to set up the Tracy Crosswhite police procedural series. This second prequel introduces readers to Tracy six years after she graduates from the police academy. Tracy is still a patrol officer hoping to get promoted to detective. Freelance reporter Tevia Kushman is shadowing Tracy on a ride-along. She is hoping to get insight into the gender politics within the police department.
With a strong, smart, tough, and confident protagonist, Dugoni managed to give Tracy’s character depth for such a short introduction to her. She’s dedicated and hard-working as well as being a likeable character with an inquisitive nature that is also willing to help others. While she tends to stay out of politics, she isn’t a shrinking violet, as her encounter with Detective Nolasco shows.
Overall, this was a good continuation of the introduction of Tracy and gives more backstory that should enable book one to fly. It was engaging, entertaining, intense, and well-paced. It also left me wanting more. I’ve read one of the books in this series plus the other prequel and I plan to read them all. I highly recommend this series to those that enjoy police procedurals, mysteries and crime novels and am looking forward to reading the first book in the series.
I purchased a digital copy of this prequel. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date was August 16, 2015.
Just love these characters, this was well written, short and interesting. I recommend this story.