FalconClaw: The Sleep Room (a Review)

Michael Cook’s FalconClaw: The Sleep Room is more a continuation than a sequel to his book, Old Man Winter: Heavenly Gates. Like OMW, FC follows Philadelphia Detectives Penny and Frank on their investigation that begins with a disappearance and quickly turns to a murder. Like OMW, FC is set in northern Pennsylvania. That’s pretty much where the stories diverge.

Here we are following Frank Collazo and Penny Bristow. Frank Brunno has long since retired and is, in fact, in the hospital where our story begins. Penny Bryce, hasn’t been seen in the three-plus decades since Heavenly Gates was closed. Detective Bristow was named for the pioneering Detective Bryce.

Where OMW was set in 1974 and reads two beats away from a cozy mystery, FC is current, 2016-street-level honest. This is intended as praise for an author capable enough, (and brave enough) to stretch beyond a sub-genre that he has succeeded in as well as a heads-up for the reader expecting the same song with a different tune. 

Far from the paternal Frank Brunno, Frank Collazo struggles with an attraction to his partner. He struggles even more once he realizes that the attraction may be mutual. Unlike Penny Bryce, Penny Bristow cusses like a cop who rolled patrol before she became a detective. So, again, a cozy this is not. 

What has not changed is Cook’s gift for nailing what moves these characters. As in OMW, ghosts haunt the characters of FC. 

Frank and Penny are both recovering from failed marriages. However Frank is also haunted by his long-dead father as well as his young son. He fears that he will fail his son as he fears he has failed his father’s memory. 

The storied 39th District is also haunted by a past of failed investigations as well as generational prejudices. Cook uses the 39th to reflect how hope can spring from the bones of fear and hatred. While Penny Bryce faced hazing and was often outright ignored in 1974, in 2016 the 39th is skippered by Captain Rosalyn Sumner, the first female African American command officer. 

It’s still Philly and there are still a swath of Irish and Italian representation. But Ali Asfaq is the uniform police officer constantly at Frank and Penny’s side. More than simply diversity “service,” Asfaq and Sumner reflect the real-world progression in major cities across the U.S. and it is a joy to read about cities and police that look like my city and my police.

What remains the same is the tight-rope nature of high-stakes investigations and Cook nails that here, as in OMW. Where the cold was the specter of the times in OMW, here it is the smell of squad rooms long outdated and overwhelmed. Haunted, even.

Without giving anything away, obviously, I can say our killer is also haunted. Unlike many serial killers exercising psycho-sexual compulsions our killer is motivated by revenge for deep familia wounds. Much like our heroes. 

What Cook does well in FC is keeping the focus on the hunters, Frank and Penny are far more interesting. Their hunt for the killer is far more engrossing than what makes the “Schuylkiller” tick.

While the tone is different, the focus, and the killer are completely different, what Cook has retained is his sensibility for the reader. There is violence, (more so than in OMW) but this is no gore-fest. While there is coarse language, indeed, grown-up discussions, there is no explicit sexual scenes or any sexual violence. 

Michael’s book is a taut, fast read at 400 pages with great background on the factual people and events that shaped this work of fiction. It’s also a lot of fun. Check out FalconClaw: The Sleep Room, here.

The photo above is by yours truly and is used here by my permission, which I think is damn-nice of me.