10-33 Assist PC by Desmond P. Ryan / #Interview #BlogTour @RealDesmondRyan @ZooloosBT

D/C Mike O’Shea, a young cop with a knack for working hard and following hunches, is on the verge of cracking a prostitution ring when an undercover from another unit burns him.

With only days left before their pimps shuttle the girls out of the country, Mike pushes his team into overdrive. Hours later, with too little information, sleep, or luck, the unthinkable happens.

And now, the chase is personal.

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Q&A

Whom did you inherit your love for books/reading from?

I don’t recall reading being a big part of my childhood, although I remember my grandmother always having a stack of Harlequin Romances close by! As such, I didn’t actually read anything of consequence until I went to university and realized that, if I was ever going to read anything of consequence, this was the time. I ended up doing a degree in English Lit and was amazed to discover that most of the other students in my classes seemed to have already read the books on the reading lists and felt like I’d missed out on something important.

Can you name one of the best books you ever read?

A.A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner. I love the flow of the language, the depth of characters so gently developed, and the morality of the stories.

Do you write every day?

Almost, which is to say: no. I’d like to think I do, but I don’t. I have a routine that I stick to for a couple of weeks, and then I take a break for about a week, and then I come up with a more rigorous routine to make up for the lost time. Then I get ahead of my schedule and decide to take a week or so off, and then…. No, I suppose I don’t.

Which character would you like to be in this book?

Great question. Well, of course, Mike O’Shea is pretty great, but Julia Vendrameni is kind of the one who holds everything together in this book. Now that I think about it, I should bring her back in a more meaningful way in the remainder of the series. Maybe in Book Five….

How do you come up with names for your characters?

One of the great things about writing a series is that you only have to come up with the main characters’ names once. I consciously avoid not using the names of people I dislike as antagonists, although I’m sorely tempted! I consider the ethnicity of the character, the age (not many sixty-year-olds named Tiffany) and the ease of repeatedly typing the name (major fail on choosing the name of Mike’s mother, Mary-Margaret!), and that no two characters in one book have similar-sounding names.

If you should travel to a foreign country to do research for your next book, which one would it be and why?

I would love to go to Ireland because it’s lovely there (you have to love a country whose heroes are writers and poets), although somewhere warm and sunny, like Greece or Italy sound pretty great in the middle of a Canadian winter! I’ve got to do a book that involve the theatre so I can go to London and/or NYC as well.

Do you always take a book wherever you go?

Don’t hate me when I say: I’m an audiobook fan. I drive a lot, so being able to have someone read to me is lovely.

Do you go to the library?

Almost daily. I live about ten minutes’ walk from a branch of the Toronto Public Library, where I can actually have them pull a book from any branch in the city, send it to my branch, and pick it up. For free! I’m a super fan!

Have you already started writing a new book?

I have two series on the go and the deadlines are quite tight, so I’m always writing. I’ve got the fourth in The Mike O’Shea Series, tentatively titled Blind Spot, and the third in the as-yet released Pint of Trouble Mysteries, which is a traditional/light mystery series featuring Mary-Margaret O’Shea (Mike’s mom) on the go.

What is the title of the next book on your to read pile?

I’ve got Simon Parkin’s The Island of Extraordinary Captives and Andrew Meier’s Morgenthau staring me down as we speak.

Thank you

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About the author

Born and raised in Toronto, Desmond P. Ryan graduated from UofT and joined what was then the Toronto Police Force. He has been a front-line officer, a beat cop, a patrol sergeant, an instructor at the Toronto Police College, and a detective over the almost thirty years of his career.

Whether as a beat cop or a plainclothes detective, Desmond dealt with good people who did bad things and bad people who followed their instincts. Now a retired detective, he writes crime fiction. Des is presently working on the Mike O’Shea Series and the Mary-Margaret Series, both published by Level Best Books.

Desmond lives in the Toronto neighbourhood known as Cabbagetown, where he can be seen wandering about, considering his next plot point or on his way to the pub.

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Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesmondPRyan

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/desmondpryan/

Twitter : https://twitter.com/RealDesmondRyan

Website : http://www.RealDesmondRyan.com

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Book Link

https://geni.us/oWNQ0

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Advertentie

10-33 Assist PC – Desmond P. Ryan

D/C Mike O’Shea, a young cop with a knack for working hard and following hunches, is on the verge of cracking a prostitution ring when an undercover from another unit burns him. With only days left before their pimps shuttle the girls out of the country, Mike pushes his team into overdrive. Hours later, with too little information, sleep, or luck, the unthinkable happens.

And now, the chase is personal.

In the first of the Mike O’Shea Crime Fiction Series, 10-33 Assist PC draws us into the dirty world of human trafficking through the eyes of the cops who put their lives on the line every day to shut it down. Written by a Real Detective, 10-33 Assist PC is the story of a cop who must decide how to move forward without forgetting the past.

 

 

My review

Everybody can create a crime book by doing the research that is needed, but being able to read one written by a man who has seen and lived it all, is quite different and I was looking forward to dive into the story.

I have to admit it took me a little while to get the feel of it and I have to say I have mixed emotions after finishing it. There were parts that really had me captivated and others that I found hard to believe. I don’t know anything about how the police works, but I had an inkling that certain things would not be handled like this in real life. I know it’s fiction but I had expected, especially because of the author’s background, that it would be more real.

I enjoyed the humour in the story and I do understand that jokes are necessary to keep the officers sane. On the other hand to me it seemed that the timing of the jokes was not always appropriate and that there was time wasted.

Overall the story was good but I felt that more could have been done with it.  There was suspense but the ending was not what I had expected. Maybe the next book will shine a light on what I missed at the moment?

I was not really wowed, but I am sure other people will have a different opinion. 3,5 stars.

Thank you, Desmond P. Ryan and Baker’s Blog Tours and Promo.

 

About the author

Very few books give you the real crime experience because even fewer authors have it.

Desmond P. Ryan has it.

For almost thirty years, he worked the back alleys, poorly-lit laneways, and forgotten neighbourhoods in the city where he grew up. Murder often most unkind, assaults on a level that defied humanity, and sexual violations intended to demean, shame, and haunt the victims were all in a day’s work. Days, evenings, midnights–all the same. Crime knows no time.

Exhilarating. Exhausting. Often heartbreaking.

Whether as a beat cop or a plainclothes detective, Desmond Ryan dealt with good people who did bad things and bad people who followed their instincts. He wrote thousands of reports describing their lives, the places they lived, and the things they did. He investigated their crimes and wrote detailed accounts of the activities that brought him into their world. Detective Ryan also held victims as they wept, talked desperate people off of ledges, and sat beside the decomposing bodies of men and women who, in life, had been discarded and long-forgotten by society.

Now, as a retired detective with three decades of research opportunities under his belt, Desmond Ryan write crime fiction.

Why?

Because he wants to tell you a story like no other. Because he wants to bring you inside a world that will both fascinate you and challenge what you thought you knew about human nature. Because he wants to seamlessly weave truth and fiction together to create a place for you where the Good Guys ultimately win.

And because you deserve to have the most authentic crime fiction experience every time you pick up one of Desmond Ryan’s books.