Camelback Falls

by Jon Talton

Book Overview

"In the quiet of my forgotten office in the old country courthouse, behind the plastic doorplate that reads 'Deputy David Mapstone, Sheriff's Office Historian', I fiddled with the tribal fashion of cops. The tan uniform blouse with epaulets and pocket flaps, the opening above the pocket made for a cheap Cross pen, and the gold-plated 'MCSO' letters running parallel on each side of the collars. An off-white felt Stetson sat on my desk. We might...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590586441
• ISBN13: 9781590586440
• Release Date: September 2011
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

This desert gem deserves a national audience

Talton's second published mystery continues the adventures of failed history professor and erstwhile sheriff's deputy David Mapstone as he climbs the professional ladder to greater responsibility and greater danger. The improbable juxtaposition of academic and law enforcement sensibilities gives Mapstone a somewhat unpredictable and self-deprecating personality (much like the author's) that keeps the narrative fresh and appealing. The story is more violent and racy than its predecessor ("Concrete Desert"), but it continues Talton's signature exploration of the 1950s and 60s history of the town destined to become the nation's fifth largest city. The plot moves along quickly to the inevitable but satisfying conclusion. Talton manages to deftly slip in many editorial comments about the rapid urbanization of Phoenix today, and he also conveys how the current version of the city still preserves some of its earlier close-knit, gossipy feel. Readers not familiar with urban Arizona may find the book's cultural and physical landscapes to be strangely exotic. Those who have visited or lived in the desert southwest will quickly recognize the real landmarks sprinkled through the fabric of the book. It's apparent that Talton is aiming for Tony Hillerman's audience. While he hasn't yet gotten to that level of notoriety, anyone who has enjoyed reading about Hillerman's detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jimmy Chee should immediately order one or both of Talton's books.

interesting police procedural

When he was twenty-three, David Mapstone was a rookie working in the Maricopa County Sheriff's office while attending college at night. After four years on the force, he accepts a position of assistant professor at a midwestern college but when he fails to attain tenure he returns to Arizona. He accepts a job with the sheriff's office as a Historian, receiving a set fee for each cold case he solved.Nobody could be happier than David is when his old partner Mike Peralta is elected sheriff of Maricopa County. However, minutes after Peralta is sworn in, someone shoots the new sheriff who is rushed to the hospital where he lays in a coma. David is selected as acting sheriff because he has no interest in the position permanently. His immediate concern is the murder of former sheriff Dick Nixon who many claim was dirty, and an escaped con probably gunning for David and Peralta. When evidence surfaces that officers, including Peralta, were on the take in the 1970's, David, trusting in the honesty of his friend, concludes that somebody is manipulating events. David investigates the situation, trying to flush the killer out but almost winds up another victim.Jon Talton is a superb storyteller who is a fresh new voice in police procedurals. His hero is likable and realistic, a person not interested in petty politics or getting ahead professionally. He's more involved in the past than the present but in CAMELBACK FALLS he is forced to work on a current crime because of his friendship. Mr. Talton writes with a discerning eye and a subtle sense of irony that readers will appreciate.Harriet Klausner

Phoenix -- from Cow Town to Crime Town

This is a good book. Before going further, it is worth noting that Phoenix and Arizona have some of the highest crime rates in the nation. That's not what the Chamber of Commerce, tourism bureau and local newspaper will admit, but it's true. Do as I did, look at the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. I did after moving here in 1972, and often since then; the figures are consistent, this is one of the most crime plagued areas in the nation. Talton writes a compelling story about crime in the Phoenix area, with a fictional sheriff as his hero. The real sheriff is a clown, courting constant publicity by forming chain gangs for prisoners, serving rotten food (he's proud of his green bologna), dressing inmates in pink underwear, narrowly evading imaginary plots on his life, housing inmates in tents in 120-degree weather, and costing the county millions of dollars in lawsuits filed in response to brutality by his deputies. The sheriff's predecessors include a man who'd been married 10 or so times, and another who was formerly a lawnmower repairman. They weren't as "tough" as the current sheriff. Although his central plot is fictional, Talton larded it with real incidents in the Phoenix area. When he cites to Mesa officers using their shift breaks to have sex with each other, such sex games really happened. When he writes about the local newspaper by saying one of it's stories "got things about half right" - - - it flatters his current bosses, since he can't afford to lose his day job yet. Yet, based on my personal experience as a reporter covering trials and in the governor's office, Talton paints a devastatingly accurate picture of police corruption, indifference, arrogance and bullying. Time and again, his examples are based on actual events. For example, in my neighborhood police teamed up with local gang members who are willing to fight the Los Angeles-based Crips and Bloods. Earlier, I mentioned high crime rates. It would probably be the highest rate in the nation except for one factor - - - the police refuse to take reports on crimes such as burglary and attempted auto theft. I've been burglarized half-a-dozen times, the recent police response is always, "Don't call us, your insurance company handles those complaints." How bad is crime? Well, in the early 1980s, Sen. Barry Goldwater moved his office out of downtown Phoenix because the high crime rate made many people too afraid to visit it. Today, neither of Arizona's Senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, have downtown Phoenix offices. In police terms, and I learned this from the police many years ago, many local cops are "cash registers." It means an emphasis on writing tickets to produce revenue, not on preventing or solving crimes. It's why almost every new subdivision in Arizona is surrounded by walls, a desperate attempt by residents to protect themselves. In response, city officials want to impose new ordinances to limit the size of walls that people may build to protect their

Brilliant, yet again!

Talton has created a truly intelligent and different detective. Moody settings, smart plot twists, and a romatic interest worthy of the hero. This is the second book with Talton's character, Mapstone, and it's a truly accomplished follow-up to a great debut novel!

Talton is a fine writer.

I read Talton's first book, Concrete Desert, and this book is a beautiful follow-up. Mike Peralta did a good job for Phoenix when he hired history-professor-turned-sheriff's-deputy to research old files in an effort to solve cases that have haunted this City for years. His name is David Mapstone and all of a sudden he's acting sheriff. Hmmm. As Talton says, "the mean streets of the New West have never been more sinister." This is a good read and would make a good series for television.