Friday 21 February 2014

2 BY DOROTHY UHNAK

2 more from the library this week!

Dorothy Uhnak is an author that has interested me for quite a while now. She was a serving police officer with New York City’s Transit Police for 14 years. 




After the 1964 publication of her autobiographical account of her time in law enforcement – Policewoman, she quit the police to write full-time.






She has a short 3 series starring Christie Opara. These came out in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The first of these – The Bait won an Edgar Award in 1969. Other titles in the series are The Witness and The Ledger





She wrote 6 further books, 2 more in the 70’s, 2 in the 80’s and 2 in the 90’s. Several of these were adapted for TV-movies, one of which starred Telly Savalas as Kojak. There was also a TV series  - Get Christie Love based on some of her work - never heard of it myself.




Sadly, she died in 2006, reportedly of a deliberate drug overdose.


The Witness

She's the only one who saw what really happened, but this cop doesn't plan to play by the rules . . .
Detective First-Grade Christie Opara, the newest addition to the district attorney's Special Investigation Squad, has just gotten her first assignment: to tail her boss's daughter.

As soon as she sees the police barricades and seething civil rights demonstrators, Christie knows a riot is about to explode. As things spiral out of control, a solid mass of blue uniforms bears down on the mob.

Minutes later, a young black activist is dead, apparently killed by a cop. But Christie saw a different shooter.


With the public demanding blood and law enforcement scrambling to contain the fallout, Christie must go mano a mano against a cunning killer. But another meticulously planned crime is about to go down, one that will send the city - and the NYPD - reeling.

The Ledger


Every crime has its price, but for one woman, the cost may be too high

Elena Vargas is a material witness to a homicide, the shooting of a foot soldier in an international mob cartel. But the sultry call girl and sometime-mistress of gang lord Enzo Giardino claims to have seen and heard nothing.

Desperate to make a case against Giardino, the district attorney offers Vargas protective custody in exchange for betraying her lover. But no one can make her talk. The case blows sky high when a ledger is discovered, naming names and detailing the operations of a criminal enterprise that stretches to the highest levels of government.


Going on nothing but gut instinct, New York Police Department cop Christie Opara uncovers something in Vargas's past that could give them the leverage they need. It's a secret that will reverberate in both women's lives as Christie edges closer to the truth about a mother and child . . . and an answer that has been there all along.
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I'll be interested to see how I enjoy this author. Female, hard-boiled.....just what the doctor ordered I reckon. I do have one of her last titles waiting for me from Net Galley which needs looking at soon.

19 comments:

  1. Interesting - I've heard of her but never read her. I imagine her experiences as a policewoman in that era would be pretty unusual. I'll wait to hear what you say....

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    1. Moira, thanks. With my female reading mojo switched on, I'll be reporting back soon - by that I mean sometime this year!

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  2. Her autobiography sounds like it would be a fascinating piece of social history now: I shall keep an eye out for it.

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    1. Vicki, you're right. How difficult would it have been for a woman to thrive and gain respect of her colleagues as an officer in the 50's and 60's. She must have been pretty tough. I bet she has some tales.

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  3. Col - Thanks for this background! I'd heard of her but, like Moira, hadn't read her work. I'll be interested in what you think.

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    1. Margot, I'll be posting back at some point on her!

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  4. I have one of her books in my wishlist. I'll await your verdict, sir. Thanks for spotlighting her work.

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    1. I think Open Road Media have re-issued a few of hers. There's 7 on AM-UK kindle. I'll bump my Net Galley one closer to the top.

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  5. I am in the same boat. I have heard of her, don't think I have read any of her books. The autobiography sounds intriguing. If I find any of her books at the book sale, I will try them out. I will be interested to see what you think.

    Glen just gave me his copy of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Written later and a different city and he is a journalist, not a policeman, but I think reading that along with Policewoman would be interesting.

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    1. Tracy, I have that book also. It's the guy who created THE WIRE - David Simon. I'll read Uhnak first.
      Another name for the legendary book-sale! Her books are quite cheap second-hand on Am UK.

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    2. And it is the book that Homicide the TV series was based on, which we actually watched all the seasons of ... and both the full set to re-watch. Both the Wire and Homicide are great series (haven't watched Season 5 of The Wire yet... got to do that.)

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    3. both the full set was supposed to be "bought the full set"...

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    4. I didn't know that this had been made into a TV series. Something else to look out for now then - thanks. Have you seen the mini-series The Corner - I think that was Simon again. I haven't yet watched it.

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    5. We have heard about the Corner and talked about watching it... Yes it is Simon again. I guess we held off because we haven't finished The Wire and we have bought too many other series that are still unwatched. But by now it is much cheaper so we should go ahead.

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    6. I'm almost as bed with my TV series as I am with my books. I still need to go past season 1 Wire (and Justified)!

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  6. Very familiar with Kojak and Get Christie Love but have not read any of her books. So sad how she died.

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    1. Peggie, yes it seems a waste. It's the surviving family members that have I find myself thinking about.

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  7. Swell post, Col. I didn't know about Dorothy Uhnak, her work, and their adaptations. I'll be looking up her novels.

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    1. Prashant thanks. I'm looking forward to reading a few of her books.

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