Protect & Serve: Strange Partners (Least of Brothers)

Detectives Alfonzo Hitali and Mose Dalini have carved quite the reputation for themselves in the police department and the local media. Their investigate prowess and dogged determination in uncovering corruption have earned the everlasting enmity of their prey, who derisively referred to the pair as Hitler and Mussolini. The two cops, cousins who have been joined at the hip since they were kids, bridle at the nicknames. The barbs from the criminals don’t keep them from keeping the streets safe though.

Despite the common blood that runs through their veins, the men are ideological opposites. Mose is highly spiritual and sees the inherent good in people. Al is a cynic who sees an angle someone is working before they utter a word. The appearance of two street walkers in their eyeline as they drive the city streets sparks a debate. Al wants to bring them back to the station, whereas Mose wants to just get them off the street. The city has been dealing with a string of murders involving sex workers. The women greet the two men as their unmarked car stops by their location. Al and Mose invite the women out for a meal. The witness to this entire scene is a homeless man whose presence doesn’t go unnoticed by either Al and Mose or the women.

While Al and Mose are taken with the lovely women, who are named Tyis and Sage, the duty of policework beckons. There is a serial killer on the loose threatening to claim more young vulnerable women while young children have been disappearing in an unrelated case. Possible leads in these cases evolve due to excellent investigative skills and twists of fate that are almost impossible to explain, without considering the otherworldly.

Protect and Serve takes the reader along on an intriguing ride-along with two crusading detectives whose path will take them through the seedy underbelly of the city they love. It is part detective story, part existentialist novel. Al and Mose are righteous warriors whose concern in their job is justice. Al is steadfast in his conservative beliefs, but he hides a big heart. Mose possesses a more moderate political stance and wears his humanity on his sleeve.

Raimondo brings this story to life with undeniable compassion and empathy. The scripture verse that figures into many of the protagonist’s actions in the story holds a stronghold throughout the book. Raimondo doesn’t dwell on morality in his character’s actions as much as he portrays many of them as pragmatic realists. Raimondo has written an enjoyable book that will make many stop and think.