The Ninth District follows a common pattern: a veteran FBI agent gets a rookie sidekick for a case where they try to catch a devilishly clever criminal. In this case, the criminal is a bankrobber and murdered only known as The Governor.

The book starts well, with a mix of action and character development, and the author seems to know his surroundings - the descriptions of the surrounding city are enjoyable even if I've never seen the places the author writes about. The main character, Jack Miller, is a likeable fellow with a marriage he's set on saving.

At some point, though, the book starts to fall apart. Maybe it's because the plot follows The Governor but never really tells much about him. We see him plotting something, but there are never enough clues to get an idea of what it is - and when it goes on, it starts to seem like the author doesn't really have an idea either.


Things get to a breaking point when we get close to the end. The Governor creates a distraction - what kind, you ask? Well, come to think of it, that part of the plot disappears as soon as it's introduced. Next moment the FBI finds out who The Governor is, and agent Miller realizes what is his final target. How? Because they just do.

The author brings in elements that serve no purpose - or more likely, he realized he's been building elements that don't really work the way he'd like. So, instead of rethinking the plot about digging under the city of Minneapolis, he kills the crew in a useless explosion. He wants to keep Miller active, but since there doesn't seem to be anything worth doing, poor agent ends up brooding in the rain.

And, finally, our hero and The Governor meet face to face. But instead of an epic conclusion, we get a few blows in the dark, and then the bad guy just disappears along with a hint that he's surely dead. Good agent Miller is immediately reunited with his wife, and for the moment, everything is fine.


As some people have mentioned, it seems like at some point the author just stopped caring and wanted to end the book. What started well ends in confusion and whimper.