Part of Series
The murder of a police recruit pins a Black LAPD detective in a deadly web where race, corruption, violence, and cover-ups intersect in this relevant, razor-sharp novel of suspense. Black rookie cop Trevor “Finn” Finnegan aspires to become a top-ranking officer in the Los Angeles Police Department and fix a broken department. A fast-track promotion to detective in the coveted Robbery-Homicide Division puts him closer to achieving his goal. Four years later, calls for police accountability rule the headlines. The city is teeming with protests for racial justice. When the body of a murdered Black academy recruit is found in the Angeles National Forest, Finn is tasked to investigate. As pressure mounts to solve the crime and avoid a PR nightmare, Finn scours the underbelly of a volatile city where power, violence, and race intersect. But it’s Finn’s past experience as a beat cop that may hold the key to solving the recruit’s murder. The price? The end of Finn’s career…or his life.
Author
Aaron Philip Clark is a native of Los Angeles, CA. He is a novelist, screenwriter, and former Los Angeles Police Department recruit. His first novel, THE SCIENCE OF PAUL: A Novel of Crime (New Pulp Press), was published in 2011. The debut was met with interest and acclaim. Clark followed THE SCIENCE OF PAUL with A HEALTHY FEAR OF MAN (Snubnose Press), published the following year. Both novels featured the morally plagued and emotionally damaged ex-con, Paul Little, as he fought to escape the perils of Philadelphia street culture and return to his deceased grandfather’s farm in North Carolina. After leaving his career in law enforcement, Clark returned to higher education and continued his work as an educator teaching college-level English, Creative Writing, and Humanities. During this time, Clark wrote UNDER COLOR OF LAW, a police thriller inspired by his experiences with the LAPD. The novel centered on Det. Trevor “Finn” Finnegan, a Black LAPD detective, tasked with investigating the murder of a young Black academy recruit amid protests against police brutality and calls for reform. The novel won the 2021 Book Pipeline Adaptation Award and was nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award in 2022. BLUE LIKE ME, the second Trevor Finnegan novel, will be published on November 8, 2022, by Thomas & Mercer. To learn more about Aaron Philip Clark, visit www.AaronPhilipClark.com and follow him on social media @_WriteMeAWorld (Twitter).
