Love, Death, and Other War Stories (2005)
Pasadena Police Detective Roy Gildard finds himself on a collision course with the ruthless gangster, Johnny "One Shot" King. Roy is determined to catch Johnny, whose vicious gang, the P-9s, gets involved in a turf war with the Squiggly Lane Gangsters.
In the meantime, Roy finds true love and a deeper meaning to his life when his cop friend and ex-lover, Mary Eloyan, sets him up with the pretty but troubled LA Sheriff’s Deputy Laura Reel.
Helping Roy battle the gangsters is veteran training officer, George Denney, a suspected racist who gets a soft spot for his rookie trainee, the beautiful, mixed African-American officer, Ingrid Neilson. Together, their efforts to catch Johnny are almost thwarted by the German-Mexican siblings, Karl and Noemi Bernau, whose red harvest has struck terror in the immigrant community.
What the beautiful people don’t know can hurt them, as the bodies pile up in Pasadena.
It's not your grandma's Pasadena. In his debut novel, Love, Death, and Other War Stories...Victor Cass shines a harsh light on a town overrun by vicious gangs--a grim landscape only partially redeemed by the love affair between its police detective hero and a fetching LA sheriff's deputy.
– Los Angeles Magazine
Cass' book is a thriller.
– Pasadena Star-News
The book is emotionally honest and unflinching in its portrayal of the world of crime as seen through a real police officer's eyes. Its gritty nature is not for the squeamish or conservative.
– Pasadena Weekly