THE ROOKIE CLUB

Author: Danielle Girard ISBN: 0451218744 6/2006 SUSPENSE Publisher: NAL (Signet)

Founded fifteen years ago in a San Francisco bar, the rookie club began as a tight-knit band of female cops struggling for respect from their male peers. Jamie Vail was one of them. So was Natasha Devlin, the woman Jamie caught in bed with her husband. When Natasha is murdered, Jamie wants nothing to do with the investigation. A seasoned inspector in the sex crimes department, .she's facing her own terrifying case-female officers brutalized by a stranger who leaves no clues to his identity. Members of the rookie club are under attack, and a sick game is turning into a deadly vendetta. But because a primary suspect holds the key to Devlin's murder, Jamie must confront her past and hunt a killer who could be one of their own. Trapped between two violent cases, Jamie is close to becoming the killer's ultimate prize....

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Danielle Girard has written a tale that is both enthralling and disturbing. She writes in such graphic detail that the images seem to come to life before your very eyes. However, the details are often ones many would prefer not envisioning.

The central characters are three vastly different women. Jamie is a middle-aged divorcee and recovering alcoholic; Sydney is a happily married mother of two with a lover waiting in the wings; and finally, there's Mackenzie. She's newly relocated with her husband and is wondering if she really likes her new life. However, all three women are strong and dedicated cops, though even these cops are not safe from the grueling attacks of a serial rapist.

I like that Girard did not make these women out to be super heroes, nor are they waiting for a man to save them. It's easy to empathize with them as they fight for control of their lives and the protection of others. Even when the result is not what they want, they don't give up, but keep fighting. THE ROOKIE CLUB is an insightful approach to a realistic horror.

Amanda Rutherford