Parallax tells the story of how a group of police officers, and specifically a sniper, deal with an unstable and violent bank robber, especially with the daughter of one of their own inside the bank. The Last Set is the story of a soon-to-retire police detective on the trail of a serial killer he has been tracking for some time. The kicker is, he is being forced to retire because of his actions the previous year against a smug child molesting murderer. Will he catch the killer tonight? A troubling piece of evidence seems to point in another direction. Running deals with a cop killer on the run and how he might escape. Whether he meant for it to happen or not, he did what he did and now he must pay the price, but sadly, his final actions will haunt even more officers' futures. A Nasty Habit is the tale of a serial killer in a small town who has, so far, well eluded cops. When he gets pulled over and the detective gets a chance to possibly catch him, will the clever killer make a mistake, while pretending to be oh-so-helpful, or will his pride cause him to make a critical error? Finally, Rose-Colored Glasses is the story of a cop trying to get his life back on track following a tragedy that left him with a terrible case of survivor's guilt and the struggle to overcome alcoholism. He is making a new start on a trip to Savannah, one of his former vacation drunken stomping grounds, at the behest of his shrink, and meeting someone new there just might help him start over, as he pledges his independence from booze.
Like I said, these are short stories, but they are well-developed and I enjoyed them. I can say that The Last Set annoyed me a bit, since the main detective made a rookie mistake that I figured out immediately and that was a little silly, in my opinion. Likewise, A Nasty Habit also had the serial killer doing something I personally didn't think was in character, but hey, I am just the reader.
For me, I enjoyed Parallax and would welcome further volumes in the True Crime Tales series. If you are not one to care about a cop's perspective, or currently have a negative opinion of them, Parallax probably won't change your mind, but personally, I enjoyed the peek into what might go on inside the minds of those who put their lives on the line for the public each day.
