San Diego police detective Robbie Brownlaw was thrown through a window six flights up, but survived. He's back on the force, and the guy who threw him out the window is now a celebrity self-help author, having reformed himself in remorse. Brownlaw has re-adjusted to life except that his wife has left him, and he's also synesthetic: he experiences people's words and emotions as coloured shapes, which makes him a human lie-detector. When he lands the case of Garrett Asplundth, an internal affairs detective found shot in his car, he soon finds himself plunged into a world of sexual and political intrigue where his unusual skills are challenged, and where his more prosaic police skills may not be of any use in the face of what might a huge cover-up. That sex and corruption might be linked is no surprise. Parker has always been good on the kind of everyday corruption that permeates southern California, and whatever applied to Orange County applies in spades to San Diego. But there is also a personal element involved, and just as Brownlaw has to deal with his wife's departure, there are questions of trust and betrayal that mirror themselves in the political. Plus, Brownlaw's female partner McKenzie Cortez, may have discovered a relationship of her own. You might think that synesthesia would make this book gimmicky, but far from that, if anything, it's used too little—as if Robbie's own detective instincts overcome the advantage and burden of his gift. Given the theme of betrayal, little coloured boxes indicating lies might also be too much for someone to bear. Parker handles this with aplomb, and the character of Brownlaw is so well-drawn I found myself rooting for him to end up with an artist he meets in the course of the investigation. He doesn't, but it's not all bad news. And if, in the best hard-boiled tradition, he doesn't clean up San Diego, at least he solves a killing, and makes a start. Parker remains seriously undervalued, but he's the real deal. Few writers could have got away with this conceit, and still produce a serious cop novel this good.
Michael Carlson
The Fallen
Jefferson Parker
Harper Collins £11.99 ISBN 0007202547
