Review: Third Watch (Tracy Crosswhite, #0.5) by Robert Dugoni

                   

Print Length: 48 pages

Publisher:  Thomas & Mercer (August 16, 2015)

From Goodreads.com: 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 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.

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

If you are already a fan of the Tracy Crosswhite series like I am (and you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited as I do), then this short story may be right up your alley. Set before the events of book number one, this book gives a little insight into the politics at play in the department (also referred to as the good old boys club) after an article on how women were being unfairly treated. It also tells you a great deal about Tracy's character whilst still on patrol as she refuses to speak about the allegations in any capacity, preferring to do her job to the best of her ability. 

While out on patrol, Tracy responds to what she thinks is your average run-of-the-mill domestic dispute call; however, upon arriving, she quickly learns that it is anything but. Using not just her police training but also her own quick thinking, she is able to relate to the husband and diffuse the situation, earning the department the good press they were in desperate need of. 

I enjoyed getting the chance to see Tracy in action before she became a detective. Seeing her state of mind after being on patrol every night on what she called the "third watch" (the overnight shift) for six years. I wish we had seen more of how her colleagues treated her at this point (especially after the original article was published, and they assumed she was one of the anonymous sources). I just wish that this story would have been longer so we could have gotten more detail, and two, that her promotion to detective was based on what happened that night instead of her own merits. I can understand why they would want to keep her more in the spotlight, but there was a whole conversation later on between two of her superiors where one admits that she has applied to numerous job openings and even that she interviews well, but she was always passed over for someone else - until she makes the department look good. That made it seem like her nemesis from The Academy (who makes an appearance in the book as well) Johnny Nolasco was right, and she was only being promoted because she was a woman. 

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                                                Third Watch is available on Amazon.com

                                             (for free if you subscribe to kindle unlimited)