The Bottom Line: A fast-paced, unflinching police procedural about a detective’s personal mission to solve a heinous child sex crime.
In Robert Sterling Hecker’s debut novel, The Accidental Vigilante, detective Jeremy Porter quickly transformed from a rookie in New Orlean’s Child Abuse Section into an unstoppable force for justice. Hecker’s second novel featuring Porter, who is now the squad supervisor for the New Orleans Police Department’s Child Endangerment Task Force, is no less engrossing.
The book opens in New Orleans, as 7-year-old Julio – an apparent victim of bullying – experiences a recurring nightmare about being taken from his tent during a recent camping trip. After his mother contacts police, believing he may be molested, his camp counselor states he thinks it may have just been a bad dream. Despite visits to a psychologist, Julio won’t talk about it.
Enter Jeremy, who won’t give up on the case despite skepticism from a member of his team and an order from the Assistant Chief of Police to close it. Sensing something terrible has happened, Jeremy gains Julio’s mother’s permission to include him in a Kids and Cops program. While with Jeremy, Julio eventually reveals that he’s convinced that what happened to him was no nightmare. It was real. What’s more, he says that he’s being regularly abused by a trusted adult.
But Julio isn’t the only one suffering from nightmares. In an emotionally hard-hitting scene that parallels Julio’s experience, Hecker reveals that Jeremy is suffering from severe PTSD. Before Jeremy can get much further on Julio’s case, he responds to an Amber Alert. With the city’s lead up to Mardi Gras as a backdrop, a white-knuckled scene detailing Jeremy’s pursuit of the kidnapping suspect may leave readers breathless.
The Nightmare Before Mardi Gras is a fast-paced novel that readers can polish off on a coast-to-coast flight, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of meat on the bone. In particular, the final third – in which Jeremy has to overcome a diagnosis that could sideline him – is emotionally charged. With four days left until Mardi Gras, Hecker writes, “Jeremy knew his days were likely numbered. If he was going to get any justice for Julio, he had to act quickly.” The race from that point to the finish is pure adrenaline.
And just when you think all is well, Hecker ends with a cliffhanger that will leave readers anxiously awaiting the next installment.
