Probable Cause
Theresa Schwegel
St. Martin's, January 2007, $23.95
ISBN: 0312343167

In Chicago, rookie patrolman Ray Weiss joins the 20th District. He feels great, as he always dreamed of becoming a cop. However, his aspiration turns bitter when Field Training Officer Jack Fiore demands he complete his OJT by fulfilling the ritual that will make him a true member of the force. He must rob Rytoi Jewelry on Argyle Avenue, so Jack can give his wife a present and Ray can become one of the guys.

Reluctantly, Ray breaks into the store with Jack following him inside, where they find the murdered corpse of the Lithuanian owner Petras Ipolitas. Knowing they are in trouble, as Homicide Detective Sloane Pearson wonders why they were there, Fiore sets in motion a plot to hide their activity. He tracks down an illegal Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Ambrozas, who is found with a trunk filled with firearms who is to take the fall. Ray worries about his future, and how his dad, a dedicated ethical police officer, proud of his son for joining the force, will react. Unable to stay on the sidelines, Ray digs on his own and with Sloane, which upsets his district peers, especially his "mentor".

Readers initially will have mixed feelings towards Ray for his part in the robbery, but his attitude especially towards females will lose him some of the audience's empathy until he redeems himself with his efforts to do the right thing. His metamorphous makes this a superb police procedural, though the storyline has been used before. As with OFFICER DOWN, Theresa Schwegel writes a deep character study of a beleaguered cop struggling as his world spins out of control, starting with that first mistake.