Mute Witness

What makes this novel so interesting is the character of Clancy. Later immortalized by Steve McQueen in Bullitt, the film version of Mute Witness, Clancy is a tough, jaded and weary detective. He is a lone wolf of sorts, but not by choice; the police officers under his command are almost unfailingly incompetent, and the District Attorney treats Clancy with a mix of skepticism and disdain. Add to this the sinister machinations of underworld bosses and hit men, and Clancy is a man beset on all sides by ineptitude, perfidy and malice. Clancy is neither incredibly wise nor remarkably principled; what he possesses is common sense, a vague idea of duty, and gritty stoicism. These qualities are sufficient to see him through his tough assignments, and, sadly enough, also sufficient to distinguish him from almost everyone else in the novel.

The relentlessness of Clancy´s work and the endlessness of his days and nights are emphasized by the chapter breaks, which always keep track of the exact date and time during his round-the-clock work. Clancy is exhausted, but no one can be trusted to anything adequately or honestly, so Clancy has little choice.

Although his orders are just to guard the marked man Rossi, Clancy, impelled by something more than his fears of losing his job, begins to investigate the questions he is not supposed to ask, let alone answer. He is over his head and working beyond the scope of his duty, but it is growing alarmingly unclear what his duty even is and to whom he owes it.

• The Fugitive
• Moonlight Gardener

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Battle Born
• The Girl Who Played with Fire