Contents Under Pressure

September 1, 2014
Pulitzer Prize-winner Buchananâs first book about tough, resourceful, and beautiful crime reporter Britt Montero, published in 1992, has its dated aspectsâthe absence of cellphones, laptops, and other tools of the trade, not to mention the Internetâs influence on journalism. But few recent novels feature as knowledgeable and compelling a portrait of Miami, its environs, and its history. And the bookâs major set piece, a description of a riot prompted by the acquittal of white and Cuban-American cops charged with beating a popular black ballplayer to death, is not only decidedly credible but also unnervingly relevant to todayâs headlines. The novel is narrated by Montero, and it takes a while for reader Bennettâs performance to compensate for the fact that she sounds a bit young and refined for a seasoned 30-something crime reporter. Still, she eventually succeeds in becoming Britt and has no problem giving voice to other key characters, including the reporterâs equally job-obsessed photographer pal Lottie, a tough-talking friendly homicide cop named MacDonald and an even tougher, snarling, and very unfriendly Police Department major named Alvarez. A Hyperion hardcover.