THE FIRST VICTIM

The First Victim
by Ridley Pearson
446 pages
ISBN: 0-75284-350-8
Orion mass market paperback
December 2002
£ 6.99

When dealing with many similar murders of illegal Chinese immigrant women, the first victim is the most important for a detective to find. “The first victim is generally the one who is handled carelessly. It’s only later the criminal mind thinks to start making better preparations, thinks to plan more carefully. This was sloppy. Hasty. This woman was handled poorly.”

Lieutenant Lou Boldt has recently been promoted, but yearns to be back solving the cases instead of filling out the paper work. When a shipping container is accidentally dumped into the ocean while getting close to the shore, it becomes apparent that this was being used to smuggle Chinese women into the country and for them to be a part of a slave labor organization. Lou realizes that this case is not his, but assists strongly with the younger detective, Sergeant John LaMoia, in investigating this along with INS and the media.

The characters in The First Victim are delightfully vivid. Mama Lu is frequently questioned and acts as a guide for Lou while she efficiently continually engages in her own illegal affairs. The humor in her relationship with Mr. Both, her mispronunciation of his name, and her respect and colorfulness of her language and outfits, add to the warmth of both characters. Stevie McNeal is an ambitious investigative reporter who now has the burden of her sister, Melissa, disappearing while researching this story. Stevie’s frustration and desperation are also integral with the pacing throughout this novel. The mistrust between the media, the police, and the INS is all too realistic, unfortunately.Top of Form
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The themes of illegal immigration, smuggling, slave labor, conspiracies, and the responsibilities of the media, the police, and the immigration departments makes this interwoven plot very believable. The pacing and sequencing assists the reader with the frustration all of these agencies were feeling.

In this particular Ridley Pearson novel, the attention was not upon Lou’s family or his friends. There was so much interwoven into the conspiracies, that it probably would have been a distraction to the reader.

This again is an action-packed page-turner which is what we expect from any novel written by Ridley Pearson. Although this was different than his other books, due to the lack of the personal involvement of Lou Boldt, the attention to the personal involvement of Stevie McNeal worked with the intensity of the plot.

Definitely this is required reading for any fan of Ridley Pearson. Although slightly different in the temperament of the plot, this is a realistic and thrilling novel.