Scratching the Flint

Scratching The Flint continues Vern Smith's Alex and Cecil franchise, a Toronto police series that examines the world of trying to do police work within the reality of corruptness. Smith has the knack of combining the gritty realism and day to day language of Toronto's streets with a witty prose that sometimes had no match in the way he could turn a phrase.

Smith uses Alex and Cecil to explore the arch type of police, from the wide eyed newcomer to the worn out old timer. And there's no better example of that than Alex and Cecil, the former just trying to survive to retirement and really doesn't care while the latter wants justice, especially when the guy he's looking for hits too close to home.

Smith does this again and again with Alex and Cecil which is worth rereading more than once. He keeps poking at caricatures of people, particularly street people and their unique relationship with cops. And often when you scratch the surface, there's more to people than you'd assume. In the end, Alex and Cecil are far more complex than you'd think at first glance.