Johnny Careless

Police Chief Gerald Paul (Jeep) Mullane oversees a small town on the North Shore of Long Island after leaving the NYPD after an incident. He’s sometimes too friendly, and the bureaucracy above him would prefer him to be more ruthless. Jeep grew up surrounded by luxury in the area, but his upbringing was the opposite. His childhood friends were Johnny Chambliss, who had the nickname Johnny Careless, and Niven Croft, a woman for whom Jeep buried his feelings as he watched Johnny and Niven eventually marry. A Sunday morning call has Jeep visiting the scene of a body that washed up on the Bayville shore, and the dead man is Johnny. Jeep hadn’t seen his friend in a while, but they were still close, even after Johnny and Niven divorced. The story moves between Jeep reflecting on his past with Johnny and Niven and working with reluctant family members and higher-ups to get answers about the death, forcing Jeep to confront parts of his life he wanted to forget. Wade, screenwriter and showrunner for the soon-to-be ending CBS series Blue Bloods, understands that crime drags in the perpetrators, the victims, and the investigators and nobody comes through unscathed. He delivers a novel that oozes atmosphere while showcasing realistic characters in a gritty setting that could easily be a headline in tomorrow’s papers. Fans of the television series and those who enjoy a good crime drama will enjoy this, though remember that network television standards do not hinder this author on the page.