Under A Cloud 
Eliot Sefrin
iUniverse (2006)
ISBN 0595372147
Reviewed by Beverly Pechin for Reader Views (12/06) 

Rachel Cook is fresh out of the Academy and ready to take on the world, but first she must experience it. Matt Holland is the "old timer" that is chosen to show Rachel Cook the ropes and hopefully turn her into what he has already become, one of New York's finest in blue. But what happens if the two people you least expect to do wrong are suddenly charged with killing the same people they've vowed to protect?  Toss in a little politics and life gets messy for Holland and Cook. Will Holland end up taking the brunt of it all alone or will his partner stand with him and help him unveil the truth? 

The questions run nonstop as this page-by-page thriller unfolds from the very first turn. As you are quickly tossed into their world, two police officers, that in some ways, couldn't be further apart in style, suddenly find themselves trying to save their own lives and reputations. A first-time rookie being trained by a well-honored and polished veteran are suddenly more than just partners as they try to save each other as well as themselves. Somebody needs to take the fall for the death of an underprivileged, black youth that has been killed because, unless they find someone to blame, the streets are going to become ugly. These same streets that Cook and Holland vowed to help clean up. The same streets Cook once grew up on. And the same streets Holland feels are more a “home” to him then anywhere else. 

Can the truth set them free or only get them in deeper as they fight rumor and politics? Can anyone ever win when politics get involved? 

Ripped from the pages of former headline news, this suspenseful thriller brings up the terrifying truth for many police officers. Sometimes doing the instinctive thing is going to get you in more trouble than you ever dreamed of. As the city streets get more and more violent, wanting answers and not liking all the answers they're getting, the public wants someone to pay for this child's death. The age old story of poverty versus politics, this year’s politicians need action taken to make them look good. Should one cop serve as the scapegoat, to serve justice for all the wrong doing that's happened in the streets before? 

Can truth really prevail or do stereotypes, hatred and revenge take over where truth should come in? 

“Under a Cloud” is written with such intensity that it reads like a page from today's paper. The only difference between these pages and your morning news is that you see all viewpoints and yet aren't sure what the outcome will be, even if you had believed that truth always prevails. This is an excellent thriller with combined mystery and intrigue. A combination of CSI meets Hill Street Blues on paper.