Thursday, July 2, 2015

Repeat Offender – Book Review

When you hear the name Las Vegas, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  Elvis? Jerry Lewis? CSI? Long-running shows with BIG names, like Wayne Newton or Celine Dion? Lavish shows with half-naked dancing girls? The Strip with all those fantastic bright lights and flashing marquees?

Yes, there is that, but everyone’s first thought is G.A.M.B.L.I.N.G. Am I right? High-rollers with millions of dollars exchanging hands 24/7.  In his debut novel, Repeat Offender, Det. Bradley Nickell, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police [LVMPD] will introduce you to a different kind of high-roller.

REPEATOFFENDER_KindleCover_2-24-2015

*This is a spoiler free post*

Basic Info: 434 pages, released April 4, 2015, from WildBlue Press. The book has 76 customer reviews, 91% of which are 5 Stars, and the rest have 4 Stars! Impressive. Read on to see what this reviewer thinks.

From the Back Cover:

Las Vegas Police Detective Bradley Nickell brings you the inside scoop of his harrowing investigation to catch the most prolific criminal Las Vegas has ever known. Daimon Monroe looked like an average guy raising a family with his schoolteacher girlfriend, but just below the surface he was an accomplished thief and sex offender with an uncontrollable lust for excess. REPEAT OFFENDER gives an insider’s view of the intense crusade to stop Monroe, set against the bright lights, colorful personalities, and seamy underbelly of America’s Sin City. It’s an epic battle between a driven cop and the remorseless criminal who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, including a plot to kill his pursuer and others.

~


My rating: 5 STARS! (5/5)
“Early one evening, I left the Detective Bureau and soon noticed the same compact car had been in my mirror for a few blocks. A silver-colored Toyota, beat-up looking with no front license plate, driven by two Hispanic-looking men. I wasn’t sure if they were following me, but I didn’t want to take a chance. My nerves were shot. I’d been dreading this exact thing for weeks.”

Whoa, how’s that for an attention-grabbing opening paragraph?! It sure pulled me right in. The next paragraph shows that Detective Nickell was prepared for what he expected might happen…with a shotgun across his lap.

Nickell, as the narrator, obviously writing in first person, is, of course, the main character. But master-thief Daimon Monroe is always present in one form or another, along with his partners-in-crime. Monroe is as narcissistic as they come. A man with neither conscience nor remorse. He delighted in thumbing his nose at the law, playing a  ‘Catch me if you can…I’ll deny everything’ game. But the overly self-confident, egotistical Daimon hadn’t counted on the bulldog tenacity of one Las Vegas Police Detective named Bradley Nickell.

REPEAT OFFENDER is a True Crime novel that takes the reader through the years-long–even life-threatening–pursuit to take this habitual criminal down.

I guess, in a way, this could be called a legal thriller. The author takes us step-by-step through his investigation. The long grueling, endless hours spent listening to recorded phone calls from inmates to the outside, for example. These guys know they’re being recorded but they need that outside communication. So they invent a special code when they discuss ‘'’business,’ and it’s up to our detective to decipher them. Along with Det. Nickell, we sit in court rooms listening to testimonies for both defense and prosecution. We read his own testimony when called on. We wait, along with him, biting our nails, for the juries to return with their verdicts. Yes, I used plurals. Our man Daimon, so self-assured, loves litigation.

I like court room scenes. It’s fascinating to me to ‘watch’ each attorney try to one-up the other with their arguments, examination and cross-exam, opening and closing statements.

Would I recommend this book? Oh, yes. We have the privilege of seeing behind the scene police work. Their tenacious pursuit for justice to protect you and me, our loved ones, our neighborhoods, communities, and cities from predators like Daimon Monroe.

~


IMG_1665About Bradley Nickell:


Out of high school, Bradley Nickell spent almost four years in the United States Air Force, working on the super-secret SR-71 and U2 spy planes. In the last two years of his military service, Bradley also worked as a Reserve Police Officer in Marysville, California.

In 1992, Bradley joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and was promoted to detective in 1999. For the past sixteen years, Bradley has been assigned to the Repeat Offender Program, specializing in identifying, catching, and helping convict career criminals who prey on the citizens of Southern Nevada.

Although still a police detective, Bradley is a credentialed member of the press and has written several law enforcement-themed features for both American COP Magazine and POLICE Magazine.

Bradley has been interviewed on TruTV (formerly Court TV) as a subject matter expert and was a key speaker at the Fifth Annual LeadsOnline ® Law Enforcement Leadership Conference (2012).

Links:

What others have to say:
“This will be the ride-along of your life…Fasten your seat belts!” ~Anne Bremmer, attorney and television legal analyst

“If you like mayhem, madness, and suspense, Repeat Offender is the book to read. It’s a provocative journey into a world one rarely uncovers, with shocking twists and turns that will keep you riveted!” ~Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author
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