The Mystery Starts Here

I was really looking forward to the new cop show, “Dark Blue.” Sorry to say I was disappointed and won’t bother watching it again. Typical of an Bruckheimer show, it’s very violent sometimes for no reason. So, why didn’t I like it? I thought it was full of cliches – nothing new. Dylan McDermott is the head of an elite squad of people who go undercover DEEP undercover to get the bad guys. I have no idea but would think it takes time to set up a new persona, life etc., and wonder how the producers are going to come up with new stories every week. I don’t care – I won’t be watching.

I found the show to be confusing and often hard to hear and understand. I’m still not sure who the bad guy was and why the cops were out to get him. I guess they got him in the end – but I’m not sure! I got the two bad guys confused me they were both so similar, and have to admit, I was playing solitaire on my lap top during the last 20 minutes of the show and had lost interest.

I really had a problem with the female lead. We’re supposed to believe she’s SUCH a good liar that, in spite of being convicted of a crime in another state, she was hired on by LAPD. Hmmm, don’t they run finger print checks through AFIS on new recruits? The other problem I had with her was the part when two guys are conversing in a van or SUV – some big hunk of metal. She comes up to the driver’s window and asks for the driver’s information. Now, she’s little – all you can see in the driver’s side window is her head. The guy sitting in the passenger side whips out his gun and blasts her four times. Later we see her getting up, grinning, and peeling off her shirt to reveal a bullet proof vest. Okay, first of all there was no way the guy could have hit her in the chest from that angle – he would have blown her head off. Secondly, ask any cop who’s been shot while wearing a vest will tell you, it HURTS -a LOT! You get bruised – big ugly bruises. Depending on the caliber of the bullets used, ribs are often broken. From what I understand (and I’ve been around enough deputies to know) you don’t just jump up grinning. Just a nit I know but….

Also I gotta wonder – is Dylan McDermott really short? In one of the first scenes he’s looking up – way up at Kyle Secor whom I don’t think it that tall. I watched from then on and they were REALLY playing with camera angles to make Dylan look taller than he apparently is. Just curious.

So, that’s my take on “Dark Blue.” It will be interesting to see what others think of it. Course I could be wrong. I remember watching the first episode of “Charlie’s Angels” low those many years ago and thinking it was the DUMBEST show I’d ever seen! I thought it would be cancelled fast – so what do I know?

It’s New Year’s Eve and three friends are whooping it up in a local bar in their New Jersey hometown – well, two of them are anyhow. Tim Wallace is a reluctant celebrant. His wife died in a boating accident and he is still struggling to come to terms with his lost. Tim is standing at the bar, minding his own business when a man walks up and calmly tells him that he killed a woman, cut off her finger and buried her. Then he tells Tim, “Now it’s your problem,” and he walks away.

Tim is unsure what to do. The cops are positive he murdered his wife in the accident, but he’s never been charged because there was no apparent motive and they don’t have enough evidence. Tim does the right thing and tells the cops about the man in the bar – now Novack, the lead detective thinks Tim is one sick puppy and possibility a serial killer. Things keep going from bad, to worse to downright horrible in Tim’s life. The cops find a woman’s body – missing its finger and now are really after TIm. Rosenblet writes in short quick chapters that keep the action moving. There are many disparate events that occur that seem to have nothing to do with Tim – but they do. In the end, just about everything comes together in an exciting if a bit forced ending. 

“Don’t Tell a Soul” is one of those fast-paced books you simply can’t put down. I confess, I read it basically in one sitting. As an author, it’s the kind of book I want to write myself. You put your character in trouble and just keep making things worse for the poor sap. I liked “Don’t Tell a Soul” a lot but there were a few plot holes that still have me scratching my head. It’s almost as if the author forgot about those pesky details – but I didn’t. All in all, a good read and I recommend it.

Be sure to watch for my own novel coming out 8/1/09 – “Call Sign: Love” Watch for further details here.