Dear Neighbors,
On Tuesday,September 29th at 7:00 Scott Flander is doing a reading and signing for his new novel Four to Midnight. Flander is a writer for the Daily News who has covered the cop beat for years. He has an insiders view of the Philadelphia Police and especially the 18th district ( our district). The view of the Penn student as seen by the Philly Police ( not the Penn Police) is ,shall we say, not complementary. It is something for the Penn community to think about. I encourage you to come en-mass to the event voice, your opinion, and listen to his. Four to Midnight takes place on the Penn Campus and in the neighborhood. It's very revealing.
Flander says that he can capture certain aspects of his experience with the police better in fiction, working with composites, than in his non fiction. A number of his Daily News columns are on his website: www.scottflander.com. Check them out and read the passage below. I hope to see you Tuesday night.
PENN STUDENTS
From the novel Four to Midnight, by Scott Flander
Penn students weren't like real people. They had an amazing sense of entitlement, as if the world owed them everything. And they didn't seem to have much use for us cops.
You'd be walking near the campus, in uniform, and a group of students would pass by, and you'd smile and say hello, and they'd just ignore you. Like you were just another blue-collar worker to them, someone to clean the pool or take away the trash.
But of course the moment they ran into trouble the moment they needed you then they paid attention. Please, Officer, my apartment got broken into, please, you've got to help me. And of course you do, because that's your job. You didn't ask to be assigned to the police district that had the Penn campus, but that was your tough luck every district has at least one undesirable neighborhood.
our press release:
Penn Bookstore
3601 Walnut Street • Philadelphia • 215.898.7595 www.upenn.edu/bookstore
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christine Hibbard
215-898-7595
Scott Flander reading from and signing Four to Midnight at the Penn Bookstore Tuesday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m.
With Four to Midnight, award-winning crime reporter Scott Flander, author of the critically acclaimed novel Sons of the City, returns with a second explosive novel of justice, politics, and race featuring Sergeant Eddie North.
When a black city councilman is badly beaten on a West Philadelphia street and blames two of Eddie's best cops, they deny it. Called to the scene, Eddie -- uncertain of what really happened -- decides to back his men and finds himself accused of a conspiracy to cover up the truth. The media, the politicians, and the public are outraged. And then a man in a black ski mask begins a campaign to assassinate cops.
As Eddie races to learn what was really behind the beating, more trouble erupts. A fellow sergeant has taken advantage of the tension in the city and formed a ring of corrupt officers that includes one of the two cops for whom Eddie is risking everything.
The widening conflict between the police and the black community is mirrored by the battle of cop against cop. And with the stakes so high, there are no winners ... just those strong enough -- and lucky enough -- to survive.
Masterfully plotted and delivered in evocative prose, Four to Midnight is a riveting story of how hard it is to do the right thing in the midst of a raging battle to maintain brotherhood and morality in a city under siege from within.
Flander places much of the action in Four to Midnight in and around the Penn campus. What does the Philly cop on the beat think of the typical Penn student? How is the conflict between the police and the black community mirrored in the department itself. Flander tackles the issues of racism and internal strife with honesty and authenticity. Flander finds that he can capture more of the essence of the police and criminal issues in fiction than in his reporting work.
Scott Flander, a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News, often covers the police news. Flander has posted a selection of his new pieces at www.scottflander.com.
All events at the Penn Bookstore are free and open to the public.
Christine Hibbard
Director of Marketing
Penn Bookstore
3601 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-898-7595
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.upenn.edu/bookstore
