Writing on Reading: KOP

Recently I read KOP, Warren Hammond's first novel. From the title you might guess the author is a really bad speller, but it turns out KOP stands for Koba's Office of Police, where Koba is a city on a far away planet, Lagarto. (Interestingly, in the U.K. this summer I found out that the word "cop" is itself an acronym for Constable On Patrol.) I found KOP to be very well plotted; I had to read it in one sitting! The author also does an amazing job with characterization. His protagonist, Juno Mozambe, is a worn-out crooked cop, but the reader really empathizes with him. Why? I'll give you a couple tidbits from the official blurb: "despite his past sins and his present problems, some small part of Juno has not given up hope." He gets "a chance to blow the lid of a huge scandal—an offworld plot to crush the slim hope Lagarto has to regain its economic independence. If he can break the case it would mean a new beginning for him and his world...if the conspirators don't break him first." For a first novel, KOP is impressive; I highly recommend this book.

What good books have you read lately?