A stellar ending to the trilogy.

Trigger puts you back in the middle of Frank Marr's crazy life. It's tense, funny, sad, and has a few great twists along the way. ( )

This book is 3rd in the Frank Marr series, but it works as a standalone. I had no problem figuring out the relationships and background of the major characters.

My thoughts:
I enjoyed this book until about a third of the way through. Then I hit a I’m-burned-out-on-reading-crime/suspense/anything-with-words phase, and it took an unpardonably long amount of time to finish the last 200 pages. (In case you’re wondering, I had to take a weekend off and watch a bunch of Marvel movies to kick-start my reading adrenaline again. I’m still not back to normal, even after watching all the Captain America movies, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Endgame–twice.)

That’s not Swinson’s fault, obviously. The book is excellent. Here are a few things that I liked:

The relationship between the former police partners seems realistic.
Swinson builds up why Frank believes Al, even in the face of contrary evidence. No gun has been found. No witnesses, no video footage, nothing, yet Frank believes Al’s account of the shooting. They’re close friends, but more importantly, they were work partners for years: they know each other in ways that others might not understand. Al was also Frank’s mentor, and Frank feels that he “owes” the other man.

This doesn’t mean that Frank is blind to Al’s shortcomings. When he uncovers some “compromising” photos (not involving the shooting but his relationship with their former street informant), Frank gives Al the riot act. Al’s relationship with Tamie Darling is unethical, but it compromises all the investigations where Darling was an informant. Frank’s confrontation with Al is fierce and honest.

The understated prose works well for the story being told.
Swinson doesn’t give us lush descriptions of anyone or thing in the novel. This isn’t a book that relies on appearances–which can be deceitful–but on action and dialogue. This is bare-bones prose that suits the narrator’s voice.

Swinson does a great job handling Frank’s addiction issues.
Frank has finally kicked a cocaine habit, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still crave it. I’ve never taken recreational drugs, but Swinson made me feel how desperate Frank is. He’s desperate to kick the addiction, to pass the test of being near it without consuming it, but sometimes, circumstances trigger him, and he’s desperate for his drug fix.

When the novel opens, Frank is breaking into a house and stealing cocaine. (This is the 1st chapter, so it shouldn’t be considered a spoiler.) Then, when he successfully resists the temptation to use the cocaine, he says,

“Damn, that’s hard, but I passed the test. Again. How many more tests before I don’t have to worry about failing?” (page 6)

From what I know about addiction, this feels real. Always being tested, always scared of failing, always wondering how long before failure isn’t the default option.

Overall, this is a great novel. There’s lots of f-bombing, though, so if that’s an issue, you should probably skip it. To me, it felt realistic for the setting.
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DC Noir ( )