For Mod Squad fans, this is like enjoying a fast-paced episode of the 1968-73 series. Pete, Linc and Julie investigate the murder of Al Quick, a cop too kind to be true, a cop who befriended the addicts and runaways, put them on the road to recovery, helped them find jobs, and generously gave them large sums of cash.
It is those generous handouts that put Al Quick under suspicion of being a cop "on the take." Al's older brother George, an inspector and strict by-the-book disciplinarian, even suspects his kid brother of shady dealings. Inspector Quick is ramrodding the investigation, which includes suspicious characters like Gino Paul, a gambling kingpin who operates a gym for boxers. Among Gino's hangers on is Billy Whistle, an ex-pug built like a brick wall. Then there's "Daddy," the kindly man who opens his massive old home free of charge to recovering addicts and runaways. Is he really a pusher? Was Al Quick mixed up in some scheme to target recovering addicts for drug sales, pulling them back to the needle?
Johnston was a gifted writer of many TV tie-ins, and his success may be attributed to his capturing the characters and creating vivid pictures in the reader's minds. Johnston captured Pete, Linc, Julie and Greer well enough that I could see the faces and hear the voices of the actors as I read. I even cast actors in the supporting roles, like Steve Ihnat as Inspector George Quick and Burl Ives as "Daddy" (not to be confused with "Big Daddy"). The twists and surprises kept coming. This is a plot-driven story with no real character development, which was fine by me. Having watched the series, I knew all about Pete's dysfunctional Beverly Hills family, Linc's life of profound lack in the L.A. ghetto, and Julie's troubled relationship with her troubled mother. Anyone reading a TV tie-in can be expected to bring the established and televised backstories to the book.
Okay, I admit I was hoping for a catchphrase, like Linc's "solid," or Pete's mumbled "man" at the end of sentences, or a reference to Pete's car Woody, but this book was published in April 1971, towards the end of the show's third season. Linc had dropped the "solid" by then and the Woody was resting in pieces at the bottom of a ravine, so Johnston understandably excluded those outdated elements.
Pyramid Books had already published a six-book Mod Squad series. Pinnacle must have felt there was still sufficient interest and profits in the franchise to start a new series, but from all my research online it appears this "first in the new Pinnacle series" was a one and done. Pinnacle had other rising stars at the time, primarily a huge hit in Don Pendleton's Executioner series, and there is a full-page ad in the back of the book for that iconic series' first six books, as well as for second string "men's adventure" series The Blood Patrol, The Butcher, and The Death Merchant. Reading those five pages of ads and testosterone-charged capsule descriptions of Pinnacle bestsellers was a fun postscript to Johnston's story.
And unlike the ultraviolent and racy Executioner books, Home is Where the Quick Is is PG-rated and could have been broadcast during TV's family hour, which is not to imply it's tame or boring. It's a page turner and will keep you guessing through the closing chapter. Fun stuff for fans of the show. If I had to sum it up in a word... solid.
