Michael Harvey
Knopf
April 20, 2010/ ISBN 978-0307272508
Crime fiction/Suspense/Thriller
Amazon
Reviewed
by Dennis Collins
Michael Kelly is an ex-Chicago cop turned Private Investigator.
He witnesses a murder at a railway transit platform and chases the
gunman only to be ambushed by the killer’s accomplice. The
assassin knows who Michael Kelly is and taunts him before leaving
him unconscious in the snow covered alley. The killer isn’t
finished though, he rents a room overlooking Chicago’s “L”
and, with a high powered rifle he picks off another innocent transit
customer. When the landlord of the apartment building gets a little
nosy, his throat is slit and he’s left to die on the apartment
floor. His next stop is a vantage point with a good view of a freeway
where he adds victims to his list. And then the murderer calls Michael
Kelly to further mock him.
Kelly knows that the perverted killer is somehow trying to link
him to the murders or maybe just send him a message but the only
possible connection he sees is that, as a young child he was riding
that same railway when it was involved in an accident that numbered
several fatalities.
A possible terrorist link is seen and the FBI is called in followed
closely by Homeland Security and the expected inter-agency power
struggle begins. The City of Chicago is not about to take a back
seat to murder investigations in their home town and the mayor calls
on Michael Kelly to quietly lend his expertise. Michael engages
the help of a retired cop and a computer geek who seems to have
an uncanny ability to follow the faintest cyber-trail. He also finds
an unlikely ally in the lead FBI agent.
Things begin to get out of hand when Michael’s girlfriend,
a Chicago Judge is kidnapped and her fate dangled in front of Michael
as bait.
Although Michael Harvey has had two previous novels published,
The Third Rail is the first of his books that I’ve had the
opportunity to read. It’s a genuine thriller with plenty of
action and a very complex plot. Harvey’s writing style is
hard and abrupt energy blended with a high moral standard and a
firm sense of responsibility. It reminds me a little bit of Mickey
Spillane.
Reviewer's
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