Detective

First lines

At 10:35 P.M. on January 27, Malcolm Ainslie was halfway to the outer door of Homicide when a phone rang behind him.

About this book

I loved Hailey's other works because of his attention to detail. This work is a disastrous fail in that respect. He claims karate black belts must register their hands; they do not. He references a gun registry in Miami; it is a felony in Florida to create such a registry. He states a Glock pistol uses a clip; it uses a magazine. He very repugnantly attacks the Catholic Church and faith-based organizations. Most lethally, his plot is trite and weak.

Themes & subjects

About the author

Arthur Hailey

5 April 1920 – 4 November 2004

Arthur Hailey was born in England and began his writing career while an RAF pilot during the Second World War. After the war he lived and wrote in Canada, becoming a Canadian citizen as well as British; he also lived briefly in the United States. For the past twenty-six years Arthur Hailey and his wife Sheila have made their home in the Bahamas. Hailey's novels have been published in thirty-nine languages; an estimated 160 million copies are in print worldwide. Most of his books have been made into films or TV series.