Mike Logan's Luck Of the Irish Runs Dry

...With Every Good-Bye, You Learn:

The Sad Legacy Of Mike Logan

Okay, let me say right off the bat: If you are averse to reading sad stories, then perhaps this isn't the site for you. Now, for the rest, I must stipulate that this was a very difficult subject about which I wrote--killing off favourite characters is never easy, but as you will see, the life of a police officer and particularly a New York City detective, is constantly just a step or two away. Law & Order fans will recall the brutal murder of Sargeant Max Greevey, the near death of detective Phil Cerreta. Those episodes really got me thinking about the surprising nature of death: None of us knows how long we have to spend on this troubled earth and when we will be snatched from this "mortal coil."

My favourite character on the show, both past and present, is the blunt, angry and loyal detective Mike Logan. It's not just his incredibly hot looks, but what's really fascinating is the way that we, the audience, come to know the source of Logan's rage--an alcoholic mother who beat him as a child and the molestation at age twelve by a priest. That would certainly have had dramatic repercussions for me. So, despite Logan's volatile personality, we genuinely like and care about him. Having two of his partners shot left him with what is known as "survival guilt", which is what happens when one person isn't killed in a plane crash that claimed every other passenger. Tremendous feelings of sadness and emptiness overwhelm the living passenger. So it is with Mike Logan---he secretly harbours a great deal of this gnawing guilt.

His third partner, Lennie Briscoe is most assuredly not the most sensitive of men: He wryly referred to Logan as a "black cat," and a "jinx" and I'm pretty sure that this hurt Logan. Of course, since he arms himself with a tough facade, he'd never let Briscoe know how badly his remarks made him feel.

Now, in the winter months of the year 2000, Logan has finally been released from his stultifying beat on Staten Island and regains his position as detective. Logan knew that what he did to get demoted in the first place was a very stupid move: Hitting a homophobic politian, but after five year sentence to Staten Island, Logan knew for certain that he'd paid for that sin in an extremely big way.

Since Briscoe already has a partner, detective Ed Green, Logan is transferred to the "Special Victims Unit" in Baltimore, Maryland. This wasn't his idea, investigating terrible sex crimes, not to mention that he didn't wish to leave his native New York, but he figured that at least he'd see a great deal more compelling crimes than investigating spousal fights.

So, as the novel opens, we find Mike Logan living in a small but comfortable apartment near the heart of Baltimore. He's added to the team of Benson and Stabler and is once again working for Donald Cragen, now heading up the sex crims staff. Benson likes Logan right off the bat, whereas Stabler has doubts that a detective with a reputation for losing his temper and doing irrational things like smacking suspected perpetrators can keep his brash roughhousing to a minimum. Cragen is pleased to be working with Logan again, but is leary of how Logan will be able to handle the sort of investigating required at the SVU.

If you wish to write, with either good tidings or negative ones, I can be reached for questioning at this address:

nothgroupie@wwdc.com

Chapter One:
Welcome To Baltimore, Mike Logan

I really love this picture:

These aren't bad either: