BITE BACK

GEORGE PRIOR

Bite Back by George Prior is an outstanding police procedural that deserves to be read by anybody who considers themselves a fan of crime fiction. It is not Prior's first effort. The other two are also well written, absorbing, and exciting.

This time out, protagonist detective Casey Stafford of the LAPD is looking for a dangerous felon with at least two bodies on him. What makes the perpetrator unique is that he is involved in dog fighting, a huge business involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, and players affiliated with cartels and plain vanilla gangs. Prior takes you into the middle of the investigation and never gives the reader a chance to go code 7, police speak for a break. The book is unpredictable yet somewhat familiar, thanks to its well-written law-enforcement idioms and protocols. The author can write, and he writes well. The reader will have to make an effort to find Bite Back, but believe me, once found, Bite Back will never let go, and in the end, the reader will be begging for another Casey Stafford novel. Five stars and whatever else communicates excellence in crime fiction.