Best depiction of PTSD I’ve read. in the latest entry in the Hanson series- a trilogy that's taken 30 years to write--the Vietnam Vet is a cop in Oakland in the ’80s as the crack epidemic is about to take off. Hanson is a good cop, a social worker with a psycho Shirley Temple smile and a killer instinct, who sees his occupation as occupier and does his best to deflect the damage such an outlook will have on the people he’s actively trying to protect. As a smart-ass, he’s put in the “worst” neighborhood, making friends with a young boy and his aunt, and trying to keep the peace with Felix, the local drug lord who is feeling the paranoia of his position, and rightly so. There's something going on with the police brass and higher ups, and a new boot like Hanson isn't privy to the details.

( )

Green Sun is a 'cop book' about a young-ish (38) Viet Nam vet who leaves his job as an English professor to enter the world of the police. His goal is to put in a year as an Oakland cop, obtain the certification that will allow him to be hired anywhere in the state, and then find a nice, cushy position in a smaller town that will challenge him a little, but not too much. In the meantime, he has to be an Oakland cop for a year in a town that's pretty rough in a department that's financially strapped.

Kent Anderson's novel is a truly 'micro' look at policing through one guy's eyes. It's almost entirely episodic, with the chapters usually comprised of the different happenings on various days as he, Officer Hanson, tries to achieve his only goal: staying alive for a year in a dangerous job. At heart, he's a good dude who deals fairly with a lot of 'gray area' stuff in the course of a typical day. He's also, though, prone to violence, drinks a lot, does a few drugs, and has no friends other than a few citizens he runs into during his patrols. There's a good deal of violence, criminality, and bad police behavior but also a surprising amount of humanity that comes through.

Anderson's writing is excellent, very straightforward with good pacing. The dialogue is believable as are the descriptions of the various locales around Oakland that Hanson visits. At nearly 340 pages it's a hefty story, but well worth the effort as you root for a good cop with foibles to reach his goal. ( )

Thirty-eight-year old U.S. Special Forces veteran and former Portland, OR police officer, Hanson is now a beat cop on the Oakland, CA, having recently graduated from Oakland’s police academy. His beat encompasses the worst areas of Oakland. He views himself more of a counselor than an enforcer and would rather talk through a solution than make arrests. Unafraid of Death, he goes into dangerous situations alone rather than request backup. A loner, disliked by most of his colleagues, he works the night shift solo, gets drunk on tequila at shift’s end and sleeps the day away dreaming of his Vietnam service, Death or his daily beat. His only true friend is a twelve-year-old African American boy, Weegie, who without some intervention, will most likely end up selling drugs on street corners.

This third Hanson installment (Night Dogs, 1996) provides a dull accounting of Hanson’s routine. There is no theme; no mystery taking 300 pages to solve. There is nothing that indicates the story takes place in 1983. Readers will neither like nor dislike Hanson. He is tepid, neither rogue cop nor rule follower. Even the violence is subdued. The romance with Weegie's mother is abrupt and the ending lacks credibility. ( )