Get to Know Eddy Harkness, Series Lead, in Third Rail by Rory Flynn! Out June 10th...

Harkness walked through the bar, getting a read on. He started at the cash register. Mach seemed orgamized, the kind of guy who kept his valuables together--keys and cell phone, wallet and Ray-Bans, drugs and money. Harkness trailed his fingers along the red leather bar stools and set them spinning.

The stool closest to the register was scuffed with tiny white scratches, almost invisible in the dark bar. Harkness jumped up on it, boots scraping the leather, and pushed up a stained ceiling tile. A BPD lifer named O'Rourke pointed his flashlight up into the ceiling to reveal wires and a metal duct.

"Thanks for finding the ventilation system," Sergeant O'Rourke said. "Was getting kind of toasty in here."

Harkness held up his right hand to quiet the smart-ass, then then it move toward the duct like a dowsing rod, his fingers running along the cool aluminum until they found the smudged edge. He peeled back a piece of silver tape, then ripped the metal duct open--a little at first, then more, until the flashlight revealed dozens of foil-wrapped bricks.

O'Rourke's eyes popped open. "Holy Crap.'

~~~

Third Rail:

An Eddy Harkness Novel

By Rory Flynn

We all know Shawn is not a psychic in his investigative program, helping the police. Neither is Eddy Harkness. But both had trained to observe and since their skills are above average, most people are surprised when Eddy finds something that nobody else can... It's fun to watch such a character in action as a reader. Not so much for the criminal who has hidden drugs where he thought nobody would find them!

The power of observation  is the only thing Eddy and Shawn have in common though. Eddy is more mature, experienced and is an actual cop--at least he was...

Harkness pushes the coin transfer unit down
Main Street, stopping to send coins gushing down
into its metal belly like a slot machine paying off
for someone else.
It's enough to make even the straightest
arrow go bemt.
As he walks from meter to meter, Harkness
asks the question he turns over in his mind
every day like a riddle--will he ever get back
to Narco-Intel
Next he starts going over every place they
went that night...and where he lost is Glock!
~~~

Now he's a Meter Man...

He also was once at Boston PD, but now is back in his old home town. A commissioner had pulled him aside and established him as lead of a small group called Narco-Intel. But many in town already know him and have strong feelings one way or another... My opinion was he was screwed,,, 

Of course, pinpointing where drugs were in Mach's place didn't help those involved in criminal activities and there is a blurred line telling who was good or bad, even if you wore a uniform...

For finding the drugs, Mach fired Eddy's friend, Thalia. Moving in with Eddie was about the only thing she could do at that point--but that put her in danger too, because people were starting to get killed...

Mach had indicated he was through with drugs and had gone into "girls" and indeed he was not involved with the new group, new drug, that was now being sold--Third Rail! They got them both the night they went from place to place getting more and more out of control... Neither one was able to identify what they took or had been given...

One thing he did know, his Glock was gone! And if his bosses found out, he'd be gone! Going over everywhere they went, inch by inch had not produced anything and soon Eddy was putting pressure on Thali ra as to whether she had taken it! Soon he didn't have to figure out whether somebody had found it--men started making comments about him using his gun...or not... Then he got word that whoever had it was using it! Eddy had to act to get it back!

, 

Bent forward, face flushed red,
eyes wide, the driver lays on the
horn. He's had a heart attack.
Or he's insane. The volvo races
by Harkness, jumps the curb,
and roars across the green to
smash into the town monument.
~~~

Then deaths started to occur and the reason turned out to be the new drug! More powerful than anything around, it was also very expensive because of what it did...and the rich users from Boston were coming in now...The first guy to go ran his car into a town monument, causing a political issue that got everybody in town involved!

Eddy started to do some deals and soon was fairly certain who was making the drugs and where their work was being done...But it was only by his knowing one of the town women, who was involved with the man he though was leading the drug making, that he finally got the method...

But it wasn't a happy one... The friend's child had been taken by her lover and hidden so that the baby would not disturb a party that was planned! She was begging him to come out there--right into a "Third Rail" party where nobody would be in control and nobody knew just what this drug would do to each individual! Without saying more, let me tell you that she was quite grateful that Eddy responded to her call! Amazing climax...

One reviewer mentioned Flynn writing like Robert B. Parker's Stone series. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure I agree with this. Even in Stone's series, Parker's infamous dialogue would nearly always be right there...but I didn't see a resemblance to Parker's style of writing. Since this was the first book for Harkness, again I could be wrong, but Harkness seems to have a rougher, more aggressive personality--a Charles Bronson type as opposed to Tom Selleck who played Stone in TV movies... What do you think? Personally, I'm looking forward to reading about Eddy Harkness in the future, no matter who might play him in movies!

Highly Recommended!


GABixlerReviews

Rory Flynn lives with his family in Concord,
Massachusetts. Third Rail is his first crime novel.