Read @ Joe’s

Title: Discipline (2025) Author: Marc Avery Publisher: Black Odyssey Media Book jacket: Two homicide detectives track a brazen killer who’s dropping bodies at historical Philadelphia landmarks in this action-packed crime thriller. Joe says: This is a premise that could easily fall into cliché, but Marc Avery brings the heat with electric street slang, Philly-specific flair, and an explosive hyperbole.

Back in 1987, Lethal Weapon exploded the buddy-cop formula with bravado, booze, and bullets. The movie jammed together a number of urban cop themes and motifs that are now seen as cliché tropes. Two cops who can’t stand each other. A commanding officer who’s had enough. A smooth-talking villain with a vendetta. At the time, Dick Donner and Shane Black’s take was excessive, fresh, naughty, and fun. Decades later, those same tropes can feel as worn and tired as the Sixers without Joel or Tyrese.

Enter Discipline by Philadelphia native Marc Avery. On the surface, Avery’s setup hits familiar beats: two mismatched detectives chasing a killer through city streets, dodging bureaucracy, nursing personal demons, and exchanging tough-guy banter while the body count climbs. Yes, this is a premise that could easily fall into cliché, but Avery brings the heat with electric street slang, Philly-specific flair, and an explosive hyperbole that gives the genre a sharpness to its pulse.

Set amidst both the gritty corners and historic landmarks of the City of Brotherly Love, Discipline features anything but. The title refers to a former street hustler turned revenge-driven killer done wrong and imprisoned away by a corrupt badge. Yet all his time in lockup did was give Discipline time to plan. Upon his release, he decides to take out his anger in the most murderous of fashion, killing all those responsible for his capture and incarceration. His message becomes loud and public. Bodies start turning up at recognizable sites: Rittenhouse Square, the Franklin Institute, 30th Street Station, even Independence Hall. Seems like the only landmark spared is Citizens Bank Park.

On the case are Detectives Aaden Bravo and Christian Bennett – two Philly cops with enough chemistry in their kit to light a raging fire. Bravo’s working through a bitter divorce while Bennett does his best to keep online sporting apps in business. They are flawed, they are wounded, they are good cops on a bad beat. And they might be the only ones who can stop the city from bleeding out.

Avery works through his story like a blue-collar tradesman: steady, no-nonsense, and hands-on. He hits all the beats to satisfy the genre requirements. Yet while working around those big beats, Avery charms in some pure magic. When Bravo and Bennett drop the posturing and just talk, the dialogue slips into something looser, funnier, more alive. These moments don’t just elevate the characters, they hint at what Avery is capable of when he leans into rhythm over routine. When the slang increases, the narrative dances.

The villain, too, is more than a plot device. While Bravo and Bennett posture like Crockett and Tubbs, Discipline the character is given real depth. He’s not creepy and sinister like Seven’s John Doe or the chaos engine of Nolan’s Joker. He’s a man who believes he’s been wronged by the system, and Avery doesn’t shy away from giving his motivations weight. In some moments, Discipline feels more grounded, more purposeful, than the detectives trying to bring him down.

If there’s any fault with the read, it’s that Discipline sometimes plays it too straight. The plot’s procedural spine is solid, but also rigid. We have all stood at attention with the likes of this before. The book needed more of those relaxed, swaggering moments. Avery is at his best when the story breathes and the prose pops. 

Discipline is a fun, easy read. Marc Avery is a young writer with a distinct voice, a sharp ear for street dialogue, and an instinct for pacing that keeps things moving. He’s clearly refining his craft, but the talent is there and Avery is damn hungry. With his Philly roots and hard-boiled style, he’s a natural fit for fans of S.A. Cosby or Walter Mosley, carving out his space in modern crime fiction one body at a time.

Marc Avery may be just getting started, but if Discipline is a sign of talent, he’s already on the move… and well beyond the traffic of the Schuylkill.