Supporting two of his officers accused of attacking an African American councilman, Philadelphia police sergeant Eddie North is named in a conspiracy, leading him to suspect that someone is impersonating police officers. - (Baker & Taylor)

Supporting two of his officers who have been accused of attacking an African-American councilman, Philadelphia police sergeant Eddie North is named in a conspiracy, prompting him to investigate suspicions that someone is impersonating police officers. 25,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)

With Four to Midnight, award-winning crime reporter Scott Flander, author of the critically acclaimed novel Sons of the City, returns with a second explosive novel of justice, politics, and race featuring Sergeant Eddie North.

When a black city councilman is badly beaten on a West Philadelphia street and blames two of Eddie's best cops, they deny it. Called to the scene, Eddie -- uncertain of what really happened -- decides to back his men and finds himself accused of a conspiracy to cover up the truth. The media, the politicians, and the public are outraged. And then a man in a black ski mask begins a campaign to assassinate cops.

As Eddie races to learn what was really behind the beating, more trouble erupts. A fellow sergeant has taken advantage of the tension in the city and formed a ring of corrupt officers that includes one of the two cops for whom Eddie is risking everything.

The widening conflict between the police and the black community is mirrored by the battle of cop against cop. And with the stakes so high, there are no winners ... just those strong enough -- and lucky enough -- to survive.

Masterfully plotted and delivered in evocative prose, Four to Midnight is a riveting story of how hard it is to do the right thing in the midst of a raging battle to maintain brotherhood and morality in a city under siege from within.

Booklist Reviews

This complex and riveting procedural centers on the issue of racism among cops--both real racism and that manufactured by others for political gain. Sergeant Eddie North narrates the aftermath of "the call," police terminology for an incident that changes a cop's life forever. In his case, the call is to a West Philadelphia alley where a black city councilman has been severely beaten. The councilman accuses two of North's men of the crime. North sticks with his cops, drawing a hailstorm of media criticism. Flander's depiction of a city set afire by the issue of race is very convincing, reminiscent, in its hard-edged reportorial style, of Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. Flander is evenhanded in his treatment of the highly charged topic. He shows the race card being played, but he also portrays a ring of corrupt cops. And he twists the tension even more by introducing a serial cop killer. Compelling. ((Reviewed July 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews