Second in a series of police procedurals (very loosely defined) after Boulevard, this book can’t truly be called “noir” as there is a semblance of hope at the end, but it’s about as black as one can get.

Hayden Glass, an LAPD Robbery-Homicide detective is a sex addict. After witnessing the abduction of a hooker whom he thought liked him (he learns later what an act it was,) and with whom he thought he was in love (he has difficulty separating love from lust) he follows her abductors to San Francisco where he becomes mired in a morass of crooked cops, really evil Russian mobster/pimps, and the FBI, all of whom have differing motives for getting the girl back. It seems she was a witness to a murder that would implicate a high-ranking police officer. The mobsters want her for blackmail and the Feebs need her to bring down the crooked cops. Hayden feels impelled to save her, although his motives are anything but pure. Toward the end of the novel, one of the Russians makes this clear, “Would you like to know what you are to me, Detective? You’re my demographic. You’re the reason these girls exist. I simply supply the demand. If there weren’t a market for this, I wouldn’t be here. You’re the market. I can’t believe you don’t get that. You’ve got to be the stupidest son of a bitch I’ve ever—”

If you are in any way offended by explicit sex or extreme violence, avoid this book. I’m not, but did find the gory finale excessive if not unbelievable. Still, Schwartz has created a very sympathetic and tormented character. It will be fascinating to watch him develop in what I hope will be a long-running series. ( )

I won an ARC through The book Trib. This book was pretty graphic and has a lot of strong language in it. The characters are pretty believable and it is very excited thriller, just not strong enough for me to give it more than 3 stars. ( )

“Beat” is the story of Hayden Glass, a LA Robbery/Homicide detective who falls in lust with a sex-slave in San Francisco. He subsequently becomes embroiled in a war between rival factions of the Russian mob as he attempts to rescue the young hooker. Much of the angst and sub-plotting of this book is dependent upon Schwartz’s previous novel “Boulevard,” but reading the previous installment is not necessary as the author beats you over the head with the events of the previous such that by the end of the novel you’ll feel like you read both of them at once.

As an earlier reviewer said, the novel reads like an action movie. Part of that is because the author is in love with imagery, and it translates into an overabundance of descriptions, adjectives, and adverbs. In fact, I felt that the pacing of the narrative was inhibited somewhat because of the over-abundance of descriptions. And in a thriller, pacing is everything (the book was billed as a mystery, but stylistically it’s really not).

The plot and action and characters were all pretty decent. Nothing earth-shattering, but not horrible either. The main character frustrated me, since he seemed to be afflicted with a chronic case of idiot most of the time. But then again that was probably a reflection of his addictive personality (he’s a sex-addict, after all), so it’s understandable. Probably the most authentic part of the book were Schwartz’s descriptions of sex, sexuality, and sex-addiction. It gets pretty graphic in certain parts—though not pornographic by any means—and I felt that these passages were the most honest, well-written, and insightful in the book.

Good descriptions of sex addiction, however, do not a successful thriller make. For me the novel simply didn’t have the correct plotting and pacing and structure to make it a true page turner. It wasn’t a completely horrible book, but then again it wasn’t a great book either. That’s why I gave it 3 stars. ( )

Hayden Glass is a decorated LAPD robbery-homicide detective. He is also out on medical leave at the moment, for at least two reasons..his out of control sex addiction and the fact that he torn a man to pieces. A very bad man, but still...

So he sits home and attends his Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings as ordered, but soon the voice of Rufus, as he calls the sex addicted voice in his brain, is again calling to him and soon Hayden is on the internet, looking for satisfaction. He meets a hooker in an on-line video chat room but as things escalate, as he believes he is falling 'in love' with her, he finds himself driving to San Francisco to meet the woman in person.

Then things take a violent and horrible turn. Two men break into the hotel room where Hayden and the hooker are 'meeting', beat Hayden terribly, steal his gun and badge and drag the girl out. Before Hayden knows what happened, as he searches for her, he finds himself in the middle of a powerful and evil sex slave ring run by the Russian mob, protected by corrupt elements in the police department and under investigation by the FBI. Oh, what Hayden will do for "love".

This book is graphic, in matters of sex and in matters of violence. Quite honestly, violence in books rarely bothers me but this about reached my limit. The graphic nature of the sex was just rather creepy.
So, did I hate this book, did I dislike it? Well, no, not totally. It is a good story, with some great characters, a great setting and some good twists and turns. Personally, I think if the violence and sex had been turned down a bit, it would have been a better book. It certainly would have been one I liked more.
But the real issue for me is the character of Hayden. Yes, I get the whole anti-hero thing, but really, he is a very unlikable man. I have an issue with the whole idea of sexual addiction and his lack of ability to control himself, no matter what the consequences, is just annoying and distasteful. He wants to paint these people in the sex trade as so very bad, so very evil, and yet he and people like him are the very reason that the business exists. But that is different in his mind..because he is an addict. Even when he finds out how very young his on-line 'girlfriend' is. Please...

A good story, a well written thriller, wrapped in a rather distasteful and troubling wrapper. ( )

Beat's anti-hero, LAPD detective and lapsed sex-addict, Hayden Glass wanders around San Francisco searching for his favorite internet call girl Cora, who doesn't show up for a scheduled appointment. While looking for her, Hayden stumbles onto an FBI investigation of a crooked deputy chief and a dead San Francisco City Supervisor. He also lands in the middle of a family feud between two Russian brothers who are fighting for territory in the sex trade business.

Hayden is beat up numerous times, gets shot in the chest, and is run over by a cable car at Union Square, but somehow manages to make tea-time at Ocean Beach with his dog-loving, lavender-loving, medical examiner lady friend Abby. The San Francisco setting cliches are pretty bad, but amusing sometimes, however the structure of the plot is weak, so the climax does not have the punch that an action driven novel needs.

Trashy fiction shouldn't be tedious, so I can't recommend this book to fans of the crime thriller genre.