{Kregel Publications Blog Tour} Sons of Jude by Brandt Dodson

Book Description: A new series of gritty, fast-paced thrillers

The body of a young woman is found in a dumpster in Chicago and detectives Andy Polanski and Frank Campello are charged with finding the killer. The two are polar opposites. Polanski is the son of a disgraced Chicago police officer and is fastidious about his reputation. He has also recently been transferred from another district having blown the whistle on some corrupt cops. Campello, however, takes a live-and-let-live approach to his life and job. It soon becomes clear, as another young woman--a potential witness--is murdered, that a sex-trafficking operation in Chicago is preying on illegal aliens. As the ill-matched pair dig deeper, an influential alderman and his son are implicated. Then Polanski is framed for a narcotics offense, devastating the cases against the corrupt officers and the alderman. Only when Campello is challenged by a local minister, whom he meets when visiting Polanski, does he find the motivation to seek justice.

My Thoughts:  Not having read anything by Brandt Dodson I was curious how this story would play out and secondly, I was curious about the title of this read...The Sons of Jude.  Is the title referring to  a father's name or something else?  As I opened the book the page right after the title page answered this question-St. Jude Patron Saint of the Chicago Police Department.  So there you have it!  The Sons of Jude are police officers and this is exactly what the book is all about...police work.

Detective Frank Campello and Andy Polanski are assigned to work together on the case of a murdered girl.

This seems to be a tough case. The girl seemed to be fairly pretty with no close friends or relatives living nearby...she seems to be an illegal... and after examining her clean but sparse apartment, the police are baffled as to why Trina, the victim, was brutally murdered.  

As the mysterious case evolves it becomes apparent when the only witness the police have is murdered that there is a more sinister and evil plot behind the two murders.  Who wants "things" to be quiet?  Why all the trickery to try and close the cases?

I like Campello!  He seems to be somewhat wishy washy in his beliefs as the story first begins.  But as the story progresses Campello is challenged by his partner Andy Polanski.  Campello digs deep into the recesses of his lost heart and cries out for God's help.

Then just as the reader thinks the mystery may be somewhat solved....corruption hits!  The verse at the beginning of the book pretty much sums up this what Compello and Andy are up against, "But his sons did not follow in his ways.  They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.  I Samuel 8:3."  

If you love or want to know more about police/detective work then this book is for you!  This read is "chockfull" of the police work with the ups and downs, the ins and outs and the good and bad of human nature.

*This book was provided for review by Kregel Publications *

Click HERE for Kindle read!

Meet the Author:

• I am an author of crime-thrillers and the creator of the Indianapolis-based Colton Parker series, featuring hardboiled Private Eye, Colton Parker, as well as the stand-alone novels, White Soul and Daniel's Den.
• My most recent novel, The Sons of Jude, will release in the UK in July 2012 and in the U.S. in September. It is the first in the Sons of Jude series, and is set in District 28 (The Castle) of the Chicago Police Department.
  I come from a long line of police officer and was formerly employed with the Indianapolis office of the FBI. I am a former resident of the Chicago area and currently live in southern Indiana where I at am work on the next novel in the Sons of Jude series: Chicago Knights.
  You can visit me at: BrandtDodson.com
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Monarch Books (September 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0857212052
• ISBN-13: 978-0857212054
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches