Racing the Devil
A Jared
McKean Mystery
E.
Michael Terrell
Night Shadows Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-9799167-6-3 (0979916763)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9799167-6-2 (9780979916762)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Nashville Private Investigator Jared McKean has a son with Down Syndrome, a best friend with AIDS, an ex-wife he can't seem to fall out of love with, and a weakness for women in jeopardy -- until one frames him for murder. His DNA and fingerprints are found at the murder scene. His voice is on the victim's answering machine. A man of his height and build was seen leaving the scene of the crime, and the victim was killed by a bullet from his gun. To further complicate matters, his teen-age nephew has just come out of the closet and run away to join a dangerous fringe of the Goth subculture. Now Jared must find a way to hold his family together, clear his name, and solve a case that could cost him his life.
Review: E.
Michael Terrell introduces a complex ... and conflicted ... private
investigator who finds himself framed for a murder he most certainly
did not commit in Racing the Devil.
Nashville PI Jared McKean is a family man without a family. Or so he
thinks. He still loves his ex-wife and adores their son, Paulie, who
has Down Syndrome. He lives on a horse farm with his gay best friend,
who has AIDS, but is afraid to show how much their friendship means to
him. He's close to his brother and his family, yet doesn't seem to know
them at all. And he's open to one night stands with a pretty woman.
It's the morning after one of these anonymous assignations that he sees
his name on the morning news -- wanted for the murder of a woman.
Except he doesn't know the dead woman. The police have evidence that
strongly suggests otherwise, including DNA samples, fingerprints, and a
voice mail message from McKean to the woman. He knows he's being
framed, but isn't sure if he is the target and the woman was random, or
if she was the target and he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong
time.
Racing the Devil is an
ambitious mystery but one that almost seems at odds with itself.
Consider the central character, Jared McKean. It's not enough that he
has a laundry list of personal issues to deal with; he's also
investigating his own involvement (or lack thereof) in a murder. While
he's an interesting character, and one definitely worth learning more
about, there's an overabundance of information for the reader here that
could have -- and probably should have -- been revealed over the course
of two or three books. The murder mystery plot itself tends to be
overly and unnecessarily convoluted, not necessarily a critical flaw,
but is compounded by the fact that it is also exceptionally depressing.
Crime is never a cheerful event, but the crimes in Racing the Devil are particularly
disturbing. Again, not a critical flaw in and of itself, but the crimes
seem to be used in a contrived, manipulative manner to influence the
character of McKean -- and by extension the reader -- at the end of the
book.
Definitely not a run-of-the-mill mystery, Racing the Devil requires some
patience on the part of the reader. It's a solidly plotted book with
well-drawn characters, but troubling nonetheless.
Special thanks to Night Shadows Press for providing an ARC of Racing the Devil for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Racing the Devil? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Racing the Devil
Night Shadows Press (Hardcover), October 2009
ISBN-10: 0-9799167-6-3 (0979916763)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9799167-6-2 (9780979916762)
Omnimystery keywords for Racing the Devil ...
Location(s) referenced: Nashville, Tennessee.
