Chicago Blues / Hugh Holton

His books have raves from Wambaugh and Uhry, but Hugh Holton's books seem to be the insane cousin of the police procedural, even though the author is a longtime vert of the Chicago PD. This one works in some very Ludlum-esque aspects. The one I picked up after this one (Presumed Dead) seems to have Poe or King-like aspects.

Holton's a solid writer and things roar right along. But every once in a while, you sort of take a deep breath, look around, and say to yourself, "This is nuts! How did this guy think this would work?" And then you go right back to finding out what happens next.