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Black saxophonist Raymond 'Strong' Carlisle is a man who could start a fight in an empty room. At the beginning of the book he's lying outside his home in tense and edgy Rio Mirada, having been shot in the back. There's no lack of suspects to choose from. On the last day of his life Carlisle got into a fight in a bar, argued with his son, and had an altercation with a local gangbanger. The two white cops assigned to the case are Murchison and Stluka. Murchison is basically a good cop who's been ground down by his job and by what he's faced with on a day to day basis. He's essentially honest, but uses people and situations in an attempt to get the job done. His partner Stluka is racist, cruel and heartless. There is so much going on in DONE FOR A DIME that it's impossible to do it justice in a short review. As well as the universal themes of corruption and racism, the book is heartbreakingly personal in its depiction of human frailty and loneliness, love and hate, despair and anger. The characters are wonderful, with the vivid portrayals of guilt and helplessness in the face of relentless grinding down by society, family and peers. In one sense it's not an easy book to read, exploring as it does such dark themes. However, like Corbett's earlier book THE DEVIL'S REDHEAD it's also full of hope and love. It's a book with heart and soul, emphasized by the lyrical, passionate writing. THE DEVIL'S REDHEAD was one of those wonderful discoveries for a reader - a really good first book by a new author. DONE FOR A DIME is a book to make a reader's heart beat even faster - a brilliant second novel. I loved this book. It will be on my top ten crime fiction list for the year, if not of all time. -- Visit Donna's Page at: http://freespace.virgin.net/donna.moore/
Reviewed by Donna Moore, August 2003
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