J.B. Turner's latest No Way Back presents the dilemma of Jack McNeal, a New York City cop, former detective who now works in Internal Affairs, who lost his 5 yr. old son to a ricochet bullet with extenuating circumstances five years ago and whose beloved wife from whom he's been separated for a year and a half suddenly turns up floating in the Potomac River, and it pushes Jack over the edge.
What happens when information slowly being revealed to a by-the-book cop, one who's heard every possible reason for the actions of crooked cops and been disappointed in how sometimes the punishment doled out to them isn't real discipline at all, discovers his wife was probably murdered because she was getting too close to exposing the truth about a murdered vamp-ish socialite, who had dirt on the higher-ups in government, but was deemed a suicide just as his wife's was?
Jack McNeal is a cop's cop. His younger brother, a veteran and also a cop, has figured out sometimes the things that come up in police work require a few lines be crossed in order to ultimately get justice. Jack doesn't want to hear it until, through his quiet and lawful looking into his wife's death, he realizes not just "something" but many things don't look or feel right. When he enlists the help of one of his dad's former cop friends who's now a PI, things take a wicked turn. And when he listens to the final recording from his wife delivered to him from her attorney among other information, he knows it's up to him to prove she was murdered. Especially when he goes to her home and then strange occurrences start happening at his.
After making a bold move, threatening things come to the forefront, and things change dramatically for Jack. His brother refuses to stay out of it all, and he won't be denied his part in making things right, no matter what. And that's what it ultimately comes down to: No matter what.
Before it's all said and done, Jack's self-evaluation causes both a shocking revelation and a certain kind of numbness in his being.
The story captures a transformation brought about by descending levels of grief, a variation of PTSD, an evolution of reactions to incredible injustices in the upper echelons of government and the private sector, and what Jack McNeal finally determines as "no way back" to normal, to "regular" life, to even his approach to his job although he returns to his desk at the precinct.
(My only objections in the story are some political references that allude to one side of the aisle and their actions being to the "right" when they are clearly to the "left".)
(Extensive profanity.)
Father, please continue to bless J.B.'s life and storytelling. Encourage him along the way and keep him safe from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.