Slow Bleed

Jace Salome #1

by Trey R. Barker

On her first night as a correctional officer at the Zachary County Jail, rookie Jace Salome should be at her partner’s side when an inmate attacks. Her mistake turns out to be fatal—for the inmate. Yet Jace soon discovers the death is neither accidental nor the result of a simple jailhouse fight. A Texas Ranger’s investigation of the inmate’s death strips away her partner’s lies and shows him as the aggressor, and Jace finds herself caught between good and bad cops. More than one inmate in jails throughout west Texas has died under similar circumstances—yet nothing can be proved. When the Ranger asks Jace to help him uncover the truth, her refusal could cost both her job and her soul.

A sergeant with the Bureau County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois, Trey R. Barker has written a novel that goes beyond the everyday police procedural, creating a harrowing look at the beautiful and terrible seduction of violence and the banality of criminal acts.

354 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2014

About the author

Trey R. Barker is the award-winning writer of the novel 2000 Miles to Open Road, the non-fiction book The Cancer Chronicles, and a collection of short stories, titled Remembrance and Regrets. The Cancer Chronicles is a collection of blog posts written over the course of a year while on chemotherapy to treat malignant melanoma. He has also written and published short stories, plays, collections, and non-fiction articles. After a string of unusual jobs, he currently patrols the back roads of northern Illinois as a deputy sheriff, where he lives quietly with his wife, LuAnn, and their three Canine-Americans.

Reviews

[John Purcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jace Salome is a newly hired cop, fresh out of the Academy. In this area of Texas, the new ones start out as jailers, with the hope of rising to the top as law enforcement, detectives, officers, whatever. But county jail is where they earn their...ummm...wings. She's told that nothing happens on her first day, but someone didn't tell the gods, because on her first night, an inmate dies on her watch, and she feels it's partly her fault. And there's something not right about the death, either. She and her jailer friend Rory start digging, and discover that her intuition my have some basis in reality. The good old boys may not be so good, and something is rotten in West Texas. The death of her inmate charge may be related to the deaths of other inmates in other county jails, and even though it's easy to dismiss the death of a lowly criminal, in fact perhaps even made to look justified, it's still not right, and Jace isn't comfortable with the explanations given, nor the antipathy generated by even those she looks up to. She's not a detective, but decides to detect. And detect she does.

If you're familiar with Trey Barker, and his previous two books, 2000 Miles to Open Road, and Exit Blood, you may be pleasantly surprised by this book. While the latter two are prime examples of a Trey's gonzo, whirlwind, take-no-prisoners writing, Slow Bleed changes tack, and show cases his knowledge gleaned from years working as a lawman, allowing him to develop a classic genre plot in a fixed setting, while developing mature and complicated characters one can love, hate, identify with and remember for a long time. Personally, I loved the change. Great story, wonderful characters, lots of action, a helluva ride coupled with an accurate sense of the workings of a modern correctional institution. It's a dialog-dominated novel, and Trey does a masterful job of pacing the story, and sculpting the characters through pin-point dialog, from Jace's first night on the job, to the culmination of the investigation she's drawn into and concludes. I can see this as a great start to a series, and predict good things for it, if that's his intention.

[Jillianm1963hotmail.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw the title of this book I was a little apprehensive in wanting to read it. However I have read some of Trey Barker’s work and have always found his work to be well written. Slow Bleed did not disappoint me. It was a mystery that surprised me throughout the book. Jace Salmone is fresh out of the academy and ready to start her career in law enforcement. On her first night of work that promised to be a quiet one something happens that Jace cannot get over. An inmate dies on her watch. The mystery surrounding the death keeps you guessing and wondering if Jace will ever figure out what really happen that night. I won’t spoil the book for you but I recommend if you want to read a good book that keeps you guessing get Slow Bleed you won’t be disappointed