Gene Hunt (1)

The Rules of Modern Policing is brought to you by Gene Hunt, by way of DC Chris Skelton. Apparently, the higher ups wanted a policing text, or rules to live by, and who better to offer up words of wisdom than the CID's very own DCI Gene Hunt? He does, after all, get results, even if his methods are a little...informal. All the informal rules you could hope for are offered in this text, delivered with Hunt's signature gruffness and wit from the show. Plus, you get to see Chris navigate the quizzes Hunt lays down at the end of each chapter, along with his comments about the Guv and fellow officers. Fans of Life on Mars (or any police show set in the seventies, for that matter) will love this. There is some crude humor and mild nudity, but nothing you wouldn't see in the show.… (more)

Many of the best material was in the earlier book, mainly due to the distance from 'now' making the extreme behaviour and vocabulary of Hunt the more shocking in contrast to now, and therefore 'funny'. The show's success in the "Ashes to Ashes" incarnation works due to the aspect of the 'fish out of water' character portrayed by Keeley Hawes. The bit where the new show falls down – and where "Life on Mars" worked – is that Hunt is on safe ground in Manchester. By shifting him to London, the fashions are more current, but he's also having to work hard to keep the upstairs people happy, and inevitably adjusts to their standards. The result is a watering-down of the very thing which made him so appealing: he does what he bloody well likes.

This 2nd book mirrors that to an extent, as the tone of the 'here's how you get it done' is lost from the approach of the first. Still, worth a look in.… (more)