The Burden of Truth

March 9, 2020
Straight-A student Omar Ortega, the 18-year-old hero of this solid standalone from Griffin (the Newberg mysteries), plans to join the army after he graduates from his Vista, Calif., high school. He expects his wages and his savings will get his mother and 16-year-old sister, Sofia, and 13-year-old brother, Hector, into a nice house and out of the barrio where they have been since his father was deported. Omar has managed to stay away from gang life, and keep Sofia and Hector safe. One night, Chunks Gutierrez, newly released from prison, forces Omar to ride with him and two members of his gang in his car. Someone fires a gun from the car, killing a cop, and Omar is later arrested for the crime. Griffin sensitively explores Omar’s plight as he’s labeled a cop killer, and the emotional growth of police officer Travis Jackson, who at first is convinced Omar is guilty, but comes to realize the evidence points to another culprit. The tense denouement is incredibly sad, but realistic. Fans of contemporary police procedurals will be satisfied. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary.

Starred review from March 15, 2020
Call this a procedural, a detective story, a thriller, or just a crime novel, but, however it's tagged, Griffin's third effort (following A Voice from the Field, 2016) offers one of the finest reading experiences of the year. Griffin, a retired police lieutenant, pays homage to Joseph Wambaugh in this tale of murder in a small Southern California town, but the author he really brings to mind is, perhaps surprisingly, Tom Wolfe. Like Wolfe, Griffin delivers the same bubbling vitality, boundless curiosity, and sympathy for people doing their best in a brutal world. One of the main characters, Mexican American teenager Omar Ortega, is reminiscent of Conrad Hensley in Wolfe's A Man in Full (1998): well-meaning, hardworking, and helpless before a lava flow of bad luck. Trying to do the right thing, Ortega becomes involved in a cop killing. His counterpart is San Diego sheriff's deputy Travis Jackson, whose belief in Ortega's guilt is slowly eroding. As the two head for their final meeting?and the heartrending ending?they clash with the worst of America, from street gangs to vindictive or incompetent officials. The novel's message could be that America isn't the golden land any more, but anyone who doesn't want to go that far can still relish the fierce energy, the verbal skill, and the display of a dazzling talent at work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

A Mexican American teenager gets caught between a local gang and aggressive police. Omar Ortega, 18, has it all planned out. Having saved up money through diligent work, he's moving his mother, younger sister, and brother out of the barrio in Vista, California, into another neighborhood. Omar will graduate from high school and join the Army--that is, if he can avoid the unexpectedly paroled Alonzo "Chunks" Gutierrez, shot-caller for the Eastside gang. Chunks is determined to initiate Omar, who wants no part of it. He's forced into a meeting, however, partly through trying to protect his 13-year-old brother Hector, who badly wants to be accepted by the Eastsiders. This puts Omar on the sheriff's department's radar as a gang member--and then as a murder suspect when a cop is shot. The police, the media, and the community all consider Omar guilty. Even bringing the truth to light may not be enough. Griffin, with 27 years in law enforcement and three previous police novels, brings a wealth of authentic procedural detail to his story. He ably depicts cultures and subcultures (such as the various specialized police units) and, by contrasting Omar's point of view with that of Travis Jackson, a patrol deputy for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, shows the humanity of both main characters. The novel lays bare the many complicated social and attitudinal intersections that obstruct possibilities for change. The novel's dialogue also helps its rich characterization, capturing the speakers' various flavors, such as Travis' description of a cop: "He got thrown under the bus for jamming his gun down the gullet of some skell parolee." Slotting well into contemporary issues of police misconduct, the plot's momentum toward tragedy feels all too inevitable. A timely, thoughtful, and ultimately devastating novel that rings true.

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