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Bad Luck Cadet and Bad Luck Officer
Bad Luck Cadet - At the age of twenty-five you have your whole life in front of you. When you’re forty-four years old, forty pounds overweight, and laying in bed with a broken hip, what do you have? Depression, red wine and no future, or so Suzie Ivy thought.An advertisement on a drugstore bulletin board changed Suzie’s thinking and lands her in the police academy. Was she out of her mind? No, and she decided to live up to the challenge. The biggest question; is the Police Academy ready for Suzie Ivy? This story is filled with determination, full body muscle pain and laughter. Did you know, to pass the new polygraph testing, you sit on butt plates because your butt cheeks clench when you lie? Or how a normal person feels after being administered the rigorous psychological testing with the end result for passing being low pay, enormous amounts of stress, and the pleasure of working graveyard shifts? The advertisement should have read, “Crazy People Wanted.”The Bad Luck Cadet is Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, from Full Metal Jacket, training both Thelma and Louise wrapped up in one five foot three inch package. The test of wills begins, but who will survive?Bad Luck Officer - Against all odds, at age forty-five, Suzie Ivy graduated from the police academy. Now, her life as the first female officer in Small Town, Arizona begins. From pink handcuffs to a shotgun named The Rock (Rock Hudson), life in Small Town will never be the same. Bad Luck Officer takes you for a joy ride as Suzie works her first two “cop” years on the streets. Bulls, bad guys and humor will get her through the career of her dreams and prove, dreams really do come true.
296 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2012
About the author
Suzie Ivy
18 books44 followersSuzie Ivy is a retired homicide and sex crimes detective who entered law enforcement at the great age of 45. She writes cozy crime mysteries with a bit of grit, strong in police procedural. She has an exciting, not so cozy, thriller COMING SOON from Bookouture Hachette under her penname Holly Roberts. In Suzie's spare time, she's a self-defense instructor who teaches women to kick butt and stay safe. When not training or writing, you'll find Suzie in her garden surrounded by nature with her two dogs Dizzy and Ava. For more info on Suzie and her books, please visit suzieivy.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 2, 2015
I first discovered Suzie Ivy when I downloaded Bad Luck Cadet for free back in 2013. I don't read a lot of "police" type stories but something spoke to me and I'm glad it did. I loved the humor and heart as we traveled along with Cadet Ivy through hell and back. This was one overweight middle aged woman's midlife crisis in action, with grit and determination she did something most 40 somethings would never dream of doing and did it with sarcasm and style, GO SUZIE. I laughed along with her, and I cried when she lost a good friend because her writing had made him a real person for me. When I completed the first book I went right out and bought this one.
In Bad Luck Officer we get to follow along with Suzie's journey as she goes from Rookie cop to Detective. I laughed until I had tears in my eyes and I cried when Suzie was forced to face the fact that even if your hearts in the right place you can't save everyone, especially if they don't want to save themselves. I have no desire to become a police officer however I think anyone who's thinking they'd like to have a career in law enforcement would find these books helpful. Of course I'm sure the names have been changed to protect the innocent, and the not so innocent!
In a time in our country when the police our being held up under a murky microscope for inspection I think these books are an incredible look into the mindset of this officer and her department. There are many good officers out there who truly do care about the people they protect and serve. Thank you Suzie for sharing your journey with us.
In Bad Luck Officer we get to follow along with Suzie's journey as she goes from Rookie cop to Detective. I laughed until I had tears in my eyes and I cried when Suzie was forced to face the fact that even if your hearts in the right place you can't save everyone, especially if they don't want to save themselves. I have no desire to become a police officer however I think anyone who's thinking they'd like to have a career in law enforcement would find these books helpful. Of course I'm sure the names have been changed to protect the innocent, and the not so innocent!
In a time in our country when the police our being held up under a murky microscope for inspection I think these books are an incredible look into the mindset of this officer and her department. There are many good officers out there who truly do care about the people they protect and serve. Thank you Suzie for sharing your journey with us.
December 15, 2012
If you want to read an inspiring book, look no further than the Bad Luck series. I am not a fan of fictional crime novels because the cops are always ultra-heroic or tragically flawed. I get bored quite easily with the way these fictional books always tie things up with some brilliant but far-fetched solution.
I like true crime books that explore the grey areas of law enforcement without all the drama. I've read some good ones (try "The Monster of Florence") but I've never read one that put me so realistically into the mind of a great female cop.
Suzie Ivy did it with these books. I guess it helps that she is a woman breaking into law enforcement at about the same age I am (mid-forties). Her depiction of going through Cadet training at that age is fascinating. I think we don't appreciate the training police officers go through. In her first book, you are right there with her, puffing up inumerable hill climbs, clambering through obstacle courses and dealing with misogynistic trainers and fellow cadets. How Suzie survives all this is a lesson in fortitude and how women can use their wisdom to succeed in a male-dominated world.
The second part of her journey is equally fascinating. She finds a way to use her feminine strengths to win over her male compatriots in a small town police department and, eventually, become a highly regarded detective. The real life cases she deals with are sometimes tragic, sometimes stranger than fiction but you always feel like you are there in the squad car with her.
These books are unique -- touching, inspirational, funny, sociologically interesting, etc. I'll never regard a woman police officer again without thinking fondly about Suzie.
I like true crime books that explore the grey areas of law enforcement without all the drama. I've read some good ones (try "The Monster of Florence") but I've never read one that put me so realistically into the mind of a great female cop.
Suzie Ivy did it with these books. I guess it helps that she is a woman breaking into law enforcement at about the same age I am (mid-forties). Her depiction of going through Cadet training at that age is fascinating. I think we don't appreciate the training police officers go through. In her first book, you are right there with her, puffing up inumerable hill climbs, clambering through obstacle courses and dealing with misogynistic trainers and fellow cadets. How Suzie survives all this is a lesson in fortitude and how women can use their wisdom to succeed in a male-dominated world.
The second part of her journey is equally fascinating. She finds a way to use her feminine strengths to win over her male compatriots in a small town police department and, eventually, become a highly regarded detective. The real life cases she deals with are sometimes tragic, sometimes stranger than fiction but you always feel like you are there in the squad car with her.
These books are unique -- touching, inspirational, funny, sociologically interesting, etc. I'll never regard a woman police officer again without thinking fondly about Suzie.
September 25, 2013
I highly recommend the book by Suzie Ivy to everyone who wants a good laugh. But I guess the bored fans of crime and police stories will want it more. This is a comical counterpart that you’ll never regret reading. Women and men who are close to being empty nesters and experiencing midlife crisis will be inspired by this book while finding themselves laughing away the fears of old age. Read the full review here: http://biography-book.com/book-review...
October 18, 2012
BAD LUCK CADET
When Suzie Ivy asked me to review her book Bad Luck Cadet, her story sounded pretty interesting, so I accepted, but not without a little trepidation. What if I hated the book and wrote a scathing review? It's probably not the smartest thing to have a cop on your case, but I looked on a map and determined that Ms. Ivy lives more than 2,000 miles from me, so she could hardly jump in her police car and pop in on me on an impulse. Or could she? In any case, if things really went south, I could always apply for the government's Reviewer Protection Program.
But I was worried for nothing. Bad Luck Cadet was a fascinating account of Ms. Ivy's experience at the police academy. Equally fascinating was the idea of an overweight, sedentary woman in her mid-forties with grown children suddenly deciding she wanted to be a cop. But that's what happened. However, it wasn't just a matter of filling out an application and passing a couple of tests, then being handed a badge and a gun. There was the matter of a grueling eighteen-week session at the Arizona police academy, where the instructors were determined to wash out as many cadets as they could, with women being at the top of their list. The author described it as a "Hollywood set for the remake of Full Metal Jacket." In fact, in some ways the training sounded very similar to the Marines boot camp regimen at Parris Island.
In addition to the long classroom hours and the exhausting physical training, the cadets came to dread the morning inspections, where their sergeant examined every inch of their bodies and uniforms to find so much as a hair out of place. Ms. Ivy described the inspections, noting that her OBGYN exams weren't as thorough!
Ms. Ivy told her story very simply in a conversational style of writing that was both funny and poignant. It was impossible to read her story without gaining an admiration for her determination to get through the academy even when young men half her age were dropping out.
The bottom line: I enjoyed Bad Luck Cadet very much, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Bad Luck Officer.
-------------------------------------------------------------
BAD LUCK OFFICER
After reading Suzie Ivy's fascinating account of her grueling 18-week session at the Arizona police academy ("Bad Luck Cadet"), I felt compelled to read her sequel, "Bad Luck Officer," which detailed her first year as the first and only female officer on a small town police force. As heavy as the odds were against even a physically fit young man making the grade, they were astronomically higher for an overweight, middle-aged woman recovering from a broken hip.
Her experiences as a rookie cop ranged from hilarious (corralling a runaway beefalo - a "one-ton devil with horns") to heartbreaking (finding the body of a woman who had been repeatedly beaten by her husband). I should mention that I don't watch a lot of TV, but one of my favorite shows is "Cops." "Bad Luck Officer" is "Cops" plus all the behind-the-scenes stuff, like Suzie's relationships with her fellow officers as well as her family.
It was an eye-opening experience for Officer Ivy to learn very quickly that her small Arizona town had the same kind of crimes as the big cities, including drunk drivers, drug dealing, domestic violence, child abuse, and perhaps most sickening - child molestation. Ms. Ivy narrated her experiences very simply with no attempt to hide her emotions, which made her memoir a very warm, very personal story.
I learned a lot of cool cop trivia, such as why many cops hate the popular TV show "CSI" (not realistic - in real life, lab tests often take weeks to come back) and why some cops read the Miranda rights from a card (no chance for errors which could get a case thrown out of court). The book is full of police procedural stuff, which I found to be fascinating.
Some of Officer Ivy's cases were pretty mundane, as you'd expect, but some were unique, including the man who mistreated his dog, with the dog finally having had enough and biting off the man's... well, it was an appendage that he would sorely miss, and that's all I'll say about that, except that I'm still laughing/groaning at the mental image of Officer Ivy using her flashlight to search the man's backyard for said missing appendage.
"Bad Luck Officer" was marvelous reading, and now I'm looking forward to Suzie Ivy's promised next book, "Bad Luck Detective."
When Suzie Ivy asked me to review her book Bad Luck Cadet, her story sounded pretty interesting, so I accepted, but not without a little trepidation. What if I hated the book and wrote a scathing review? It's probably not the smartest thing to have a cop on your case, but I looked on a map and determined that Ms. Ivy lives more than 2,000 miles from me, so she could hardly jump in her police car and pop in on me on an impulse. Or could she? In any case, if things really went south, I could always apply for the government's Reviewer Protection Program.
But I was worried for nothing. Bad Luck Cadet was a fascinating account of Ms. Ivy's experience at the police academy. Equally fascinating was the idea of an overweight, sedentary woman in her mid-forties with grown children suddenly deciding she wanted to be a cop. But that's what happened. However, it wasn't just a matter of filling out an application and passing a couple of tests, then being handed a badge and a gun. There was the matter of a grueling eighteen-week session at the Arizona police academy, where the instructors were determined to wash out as many cadets as they could, with women being at the top of their list. The author described it as a "Hollywood set for the remake of Full Metal Jacket." In fact, in some ways the training sounded very similar to the Marines boot camp regimen at Parris Island.
In addition to the long classroom hours and the exhausting physical training, the cadets came to dread the morning inspections, where their sergeant examined every inch of their bodies and uniforms to find so much as a hair out of place. Ms. Ivy described the inspections, noting that her OBGYN exams weren't as thorough!
Ms. Ivy told her story very simply in a conversational style of writing that was both funny and poignant. It was impossible to read her story without gaining an admiration for her determination to get through the academy even when young men half her age were dropping out.
The bottom line: I enjoyed Bad Luck Cadet very much, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Bad Luck Officer.
-------------------------------------------------------------
BAD LUCK OFFICER
After reading Suzie Ivy's fascinating account of her grueling 18-week session at the Arizona police academy ("Bad Luck Cadet"), I felt compelled to read her sequel, "Bad Luck Officer," which detailed her first year as the first and only female officer on a small town police force. As heavy as the odds were against even a physically fit young man making the grade, they were astronomically higher for an overweight, middle-aged woman recovering from a broken hip.
Her experiences as a rookie cop ranged from hilarious (corralling a runaway beefalo - a "one-ton devil with horns") to heartbreaking (finding the body of a woman who had been repeatedly beaten by her husband). I should mention that I don't watch a lot of TV, but one of my favorite shows is "Cops." "Bad Luck Officer" is "Cops" plus all the behind-the-scenes stuff, like Suzie's relationships with her fellow officers as well as her family.
It was an eye-opening experience for Officer Ivy to learn very quickly that her small Arizona town had the same kind of crimes as the big cities, including drunk drivers, drug dealing, domestic violence, child abuse, and perhaps most sickening - child molestation. Ms. Ivy narrated her experiences very simply with no attempt to hide her emotions, which made her memoir a very warm, very personal story.
I learned a lot of cool cop trivia, such as why many cops hate the popular TV show "CSI" (not realistic - in real life, lab tests often take weeks to come back) and why some cops read the Miranda rights from a card (no chance for errors which could get a case thrown out of court). The book is full of police procedural stuff, which I found to be fascinating.
Some of Officer Ivy's cases were pretty mundane, as you'd expect, but some were unique, including the man who mistreated his dog, with the dog finally having had enough and biting off the man's... well, it was an appendage that he would sorely miss, and that's all I'll say about that, except that I'm still laughing/groaning at the mental image of Officer Ivy using her flashlight to search the man's backyard for said missing appendage.
"Bad Luck Officer" was marvelous reading, and now I'm looking forward to Suzie Ivy's promised next book, "Bad Luck Detective."
September 30, 2012
I really enjoyed these two books. They scratch that itch I have for getting the "inside scoop" on crime and punishment. I just wish I'd found Ms. Ivey before I finished my novel, "Red." I ran around everywhere trying to find cops willing to talk to me about procedure, attitudes, etc., and could have learned a lot right here!
Just the basic facts of the story amaze me. At the age of forty-four, Susie Ivey decided to follow her dream of becoming a police officer. The first book, "Bad Luck Cadet," chronicles her decision and application through her time at the police academy and the final victory of graduation.
I had no idea that police training was so intense, so I certainly came away with more respect for officers than ever. But my respect for Officer Ivey is even greater. I don't know that I've ever wanted anything -- and I mean ANYTHING -- in my life badly enough to go through that kind of hell. (Of course, I am the girl who forged her mother's signature for nearly a year to get out of PE in middle school; the idea of all that brutal physical exertion makes me break out in a cold sweat.)
Just reading about the training exhausted me. I would have died in the first week. (Who am I kidding? The first day.) Facing some obstacles in your own life? Need a role-model for stamina, courage, and perseverance? Pick up a copy of "Bad Luck Cadet." It's inspirational for anybody, but especially for women.
"Bad Luck Officer" follows Ivey further as she begins her life as a rookie in a small town in Arizona. We are treated to an insider's view of all the quirks and characters of a small town, all told with a sense of humor, along with the darker truths of what happens in the lives all around us.
Officer Ivey has a blog (http://www.blogher.com/frame.php?url=...) which I am now addicted to.
There's another "Bad Luck" book on the way, "Bad Luck Detective," and I'm really looking forward to it!
Just the basic facts of the story amaze me. At the age of forty-four, Susie Ivey decided to follow her dream of becoming a police officer. The first book, "Bad Luck Cadet," chronicles her decision and application through her time at the police academy and the final victory of graduation.
I had no idea that police training was so intense, so I certainly came away with more respect for officers than ever. But my respect for Officer Ivey is even greater. I don't know that I've ever wanted anything -- and I mean ANYTHING -- in my life badly enough to go through that kind of hell. (Of course, I am the girl who forged her mother's signature for nearly a year to get out of PE in middle school; the idea of all that brutal physical exertion makes me break out in a cold sweat.)
Just reading about the training exhausted me. I would have died in the first week. (Who am I kidding? The first day.) Facing some obstacles in your own life? Need a role-model for stamina, courage, and perseverance? Pick up a copy of "Bad Luck Cadet." It's inspirational for anybody, but especially for women.
"Bad Luck Officer" follows Ivey further as she begins her life as a rookie in a small town in Arizona. We are treated to an insider's view of all the quirks and characters of a small town, all told with a sense of humor, along with the darker truths of what happens in the lives all around us.
Officer Ivey has a blog (http://www.blogher.com/frame.php?url=...) which I am now addicted to.
There's another "Bad Luck" book on the way, "Bad Luck Detective," and I'm really looking forward to it!
July 24, 2012
It was an honour to be the first UK reader to review this second book (Bad Luck Officer). I came to it from Bad Luck Cadet, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and this is just as good. In the first book Suzie, a middle-aged mother with two grown-up children, succeeds against all the odds to pass an extremely tough, militaristic and demanding course at the Police Academy; here she starts out on her probation year as a police officer - the first female police officer in Small Town Arizona. She has to put everything she learned into practice under the watchful eyes of her critical, demanding, and sometimes very chauvinistic male colleagues. The incidents she deals with are by turns amusing, shocking, and very moving. It's written as a true story, with details of names and places changed to protect privacy. Nothing in this book is boring; she writes simply and clearly, and has a gift for describing her characters and bringing them to life. I think this book is a considerable achievement. I hope there will be a third one - Bad Luck Detective - and look forward to reading that too.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews