Back in Penn’s River, PA. On the Appalachian side of Pittsburgh. PRPD has their share of crap to clean up and keep in line with Chief Sullivan (Sully) on the downhill slide to retirement. But he has a good, if kinda small, force. Mainly Detective Benjamin (‘Doc’ to everyone but a couple family members) Dougherty as a voice of reason in the House (the station) and on the street. Biggest employer in Penn’s River is the Casino that is set to host a $1 million poker tournament this coming Sunday.

Late February Monday in Penn’s River. Snowing, but nothing unusual or too bad. Trevor Boston is somewhat new to the force. While on his rounds about town, he takes a call about a dust-up at Fat Jimmies bar. Upon arrival, he finds the tail end of a fight at the pool table. Boston starts in taking statements. When he gets to Richard Johnson, one of the combatants, Boston quickly learns that Johnson doesn’t play well with Blacks. Turns out he’s a card-carrying member of Potentia Albus – a white supremacy outfit mostly headquartered in western PA. And he’s not going to allow Boston to touch him much less make an arrest.

Questions turn to raised voices turn to Johnson slapping Boston and running out the front door. Boston pursues. Pulls his sidearm as he carefully moves through the snowfall and trash. As he rounds a corner to the back of the bar, Johnson jumps out from behind a dumpster and Boston puts three bullets into him. Despite his best efforts at some first aid, Johnson dies is the debris-ridden slush behind the bar.

Sully sends Doc and other cops to the bar. Boston is of little help; too stunned at how things evolved so quickly. SOP for an officer-involved shooting is to place Boston on suspension, take his badge and gun, and call the PA state police to come in to do the IAB job that small-ish departments Penn’s River can’t do.

The word gets out. Fast. Black cop killed a white citizen. The spokesmen for Potentia Albus call in the true believers to attend Johnson’s funeral set for the coming Sunday and about 500 are expected. Sully knows he must get his force ready. Cancels all leave. Frees up overtime money. Doc is the boots-on-the-street commander who’s running logistics moving law enforcement units and personnel around town like pieces on a chessboard to keep brush fires from becoming a full blown nightmare. His army experience from tours to Afghanistan and Iraq come in handy.

And despite most all resources being devoted to the potential for a race riot, there still remains the usual Penn’s River issues like domestic calls, fights over a basketball game, Doc’s aging parents . . . and that damned poker tournament . . . all coming together right when mother nature decides that a foot or more fresh snow might be an appropriate accompaniment to the weekend's crowded calendar.

White Out in Dana King’s 8th Penn’s River crime novel, this being the 3rd that we’ve reviewed. Small-ish town police procedural told in a fine, straight forward, and colorful narrative. Dialogue is on point. Descriptive prose takes you right in the living rooms and the jail within the House. King has been nominated for a Shamus Award on multiple occasions. I’ve been remiss in waiting so long since my last visit to Penn’s River. Good stuff. Realistic small town police procedural. Think you’ll like it.

Published 26 July 2022. First learned about King from Charlie Stella, an MRB power rotation author. When Charlie speaks . . . ECD listens. He hasn’t steered us wrong yet.

White Out was a snooze fest. It's the story of an African American police officer, Trevor Boston, who goes to a bar to break up a fight involving a white supremacist. The white man insults Trevor by calling him a nigger, and he slaps him, after which he runs out of the bar. Trevor chases after him around back. The white man runs toward him with a weapon and Trevor shoots and kills him.

A huge group of supremacists decide to descend on the town and reek havoc on the African Americans because of the Black on white killing of their fellow supremacist. They go to a park where a group of Black guys are playing basketball. They start a riot but the police show up to restore order.

There is also a man, Tucker, who has come to town with six guys to steal a million dollars from the casino. It was the marshalls who were after him. He got the money but was apprehended by the police.

So the story of the shooting, the story of the riot and the story of the robbery were the themes of the book. It was really boring in the beginning and didn't get anywhere near exciting until the incident with Trevor. Then it got boring again until the riot. Right after the riot was the robbery. The theme of the book was a good one but the story dragged terribly and it lacked substance. I much more prefer stories that have some bite to them, something that would keep me up at night, a page turner. There was no real excitement aside from the riot, no nail biting, no cliff hanging, nothing to hold my interest. It barely kept me awake. And the ending was awful. I would not recommend this book.

I really felt for the police of this small town, Penn's River as they deal with a perfect storm, and not only the weather. Most of the experienced police officers have retired, leaving the small town mostly young officers who just don't have the seasoning. They are about to be tested. And there is a blizzard on the way, a blizzard that will take out communications and make many of the roads impassable. So many things happened quickly.

A young black policeman shoots a man after a bar fight who happens to be a white supremist. The policeman thought he had a gun but they can't find it. Other white supremists pour into the town for the funeral, and to protest the shooting.

The man who owns the local casino is having a high stakes game that has brought many gamblers to town. For some reason, he thought it was a great idea to require every player to bring 10,000 dollars in cash to the game, which he would count publicly as each player arrived. This was widely publicized, and guess who else was attracted by this? Thieves. I had to think - what was this man thinking? He practically put a red, flashing sign on his business that read 'Lots of cash here. Come get some.' There is a reason most businesses don't keep a lot of cash on the premises and he had it publicly displayed.

Meanwhile, the police are getting many more calls than usual, keeping them scattered, and the roads are becoming difficult to navigate when they aren't impassible. It is a perfect storm in more than one way.

I read this book in two sittings (would have been one but I had to sleep), as I truly did not want to put it down. If you are a lover of suspense and police procedurals, then this is the book for you. It also really highlights the solidarity that police have among themselves, as well as their internal politics.

I received a review copy of this book from publisher Down & Out Books via NetGalley. It was a real pleasure to read and review this book.

Thank you #NetGalley and Down & Out Books for the digital copy of White Out in exchange for my honest review.

It’s been a tough winter in Penns River and things aren’t getting any better. A major snowstorm looms as a police officer shoots and kills a man after a bar fight. “We’ve all heard the stories of White cops shooting and killing unarmed Black men. But what happens when the scenario flips?

White Out is a truly excellent read. Not to be missed.

I rated this 5 STARS

Dana King has written a timely book with White Out.

In Penn River a lot is going on. A local casino holds a high stakes poker game. The usual calls for police - domestic disturbance and the like - continue par usual.
But, a Black police officer has shot a white man at a nasty bar fight.. Not just any white man, a dyed-in-the-wool white supremacist. While the officer was sure the dead man had a gun, none is found on him.
The local supremacy organization combine with their national brethren and seek to make this a racial, highly-politicized, unjustified killing. Riot conditions are high and the detective seeking to clarify the shooting is rather new to the force.

With retirements and a lot of new recruits the going on in this town stretch the police department mighty thin.

As I said, a book for our times. Well written, this book will keep you turning the pages long after you should.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Down & Out Books for the copy of White Out. The premise was timely, a white supremacy group is angry after a Black police officer shoots and kills a white man. The book takes place on the weekend of the funeral when the white supremacy group comes to town to attend the funeral. They wreak havoc on the town, keeping the small police force busy. There was vile language and racial slurs that made the book hard for me to read. Cuss words seemed to be just thrown in, even when a less offensive word could have been used. Some of the writing was choppy with incomplete sentences.It made it hard to understand what was meant. I found out that this is the seventh book in a series, so that might be why the number of characters was so baffling to me and hard to keep them straight. If you like a gritty, hard-hitting book you might like this one. It was not for me.

This is a gritty crime novel with an interesting premise. After a bar fight, a black cop kills a white supremacy member. It happens in a small town getting ready to host a major poker tournament. The white supremacy group is outraged and dangerously violent. The snowstorm adds to the complications of a small town hosting a large event, a funeral and dangerous, unwanted guests. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this interesting read!