K C Reinstadler

Hot Bits...Cold Steel K C Reinstadler

Safecracking is making a comeback in the Southland. Dennis Fitch-known to authorities as "the Driller"-is knocking over fast-food joints all over Orange County. Crime lord Chuy Sepulveda, Fitch's go-between, runs a check-forging and credit-card-skimming operation out of a hideout called "the Shop," with members of Southern California's deadliest gangs to do his legwork.



When burglaries spike, the cops form a task force and put veteran detective Kevin Rhinehardt and rookie Will Phillips on the case. Rhinehardt must battle the crime ring and department red tape while keeping things under control at home. He's got a son in Afghanistan and a hot-rodding teen in hot water with the law.



Over at the Shop, Fitch has his own headaches. His half brother, James, is a bad accomplice; his mother just wants the loot to keep coming; and Sepulveda is demanding his cut. When an innocent man dies, the task force cracks down. Rhinehardt gives his partner a lesson in old-fashioned police work that puts them on the trail of the Driller.



When the showdown comes, many rounds will be fired. Authored by a veteran law enforcement officer, Hot Bits... Cold Steel is a hard-edged look at the California underworld.