Review: The Third Rail – Michael Harvey

 

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (April 20, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307272508
ISBN-13: 978-0307272508
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Michael Kelly. Private Eye. Chicago is his playground. This is Michael Harvey’s third novel involving Michael Kelly. I haven’t read the first 2, but after reading this, I plan to pick them up. This story is set in and around the North side of Chicago. A woman is shot in the subway system. Moments later a 2nd woman is shot while sitting on the train. Michael Kelly is attacked. Who is doing the mass killings? What do they have against Michael Kelly?

I wasn’t 100% sure what to think at the beginning of this novel. There was one page where a young Asian woman, in a blue suit, took Michael to meet a man. That was a young white man with a brown suit. He took Michael to wait in a room where a young black man in a gray suit showed up. It seemed like it was going to be one of those novels where they get to verbose. That didn’t happen.

The story alternated between Michael’s view of the story, and that of the killer. Michael’s view is told from the first person perspective, while the killers is told from second person. This works very well in my opinion. It gave me the impression of the old 40s detective movies starring Bogart and others. The descriptions of places within Chicago, my having never been there, seemed quite vivid. I could almost picture the bars, hotels, and the run down buildings.

I think if you like detective thrillers, this is one that would be right up your alley. Sometimes I can guess what’s going on. This time I wasn’t able to even guess until the final few pages. A secondary short story called The Blue Line follows up with some loose ends left from the main story. Even with that, there are a few loose ends that I have a feeling will be revisited in a future novel. This book covers some issues faced by today’s society, and I think that helped add to some of the realism. Grab a copy, a cup of tea, and find you a comfortable seat.  We hope to have an interview with Mr. Harvey soon.  When we do you’ll be able to read it here.

An article about the book, and about Michael Harvey and Chicago can be found at the Knopf/Doubleday Website.

Trailer can be seen below:

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Michael Harvey is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the television series Cold Case Files, as well as an Academy Award-nominee for his documentary Eyewitness, and is a former investigative reporter for CBS. He earned a law degree at Duke and a masters in journalism from Northwestern. He also owns a bar in Chicago. Visit his at website, Facebook Page, or on Twitter. A portion of the proceeds goes to Cambodian Childrens’ Fund.

 

 

 

 

*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to Caitlin and Julie at FSB Associates for providing a review copy of this book. It in no way influenced my review.

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One Response to “Review: The Third Rail – Michael Harvey”

  1. Marjorie Says:

    I really enjoy a good mystery and I will put this book on my wish list.
    A great review, thanks.

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