The Son of John Devlin - Softcover

An old man who has lost his daughter in a fire because of crooked cops on the take is talking in his shabby apartment to a policeman investigating the case:

There was a smell of something burning, and O'Connor went and flipped open a toaster oven and pulled out a charred English muffin with melted cheese. He plucked it with a fork and held it for a moment as though wondering what to do with it. Suddenly, he flung it hard in the direction of the sink, but it was too high, struck a coffee mug and knocked it against the wall, breaking the handle. O'Connor turned red with rage and faced Jack. "God knows what happened," he said. "God knows the truth."

That combination of rage, frustration, and faith fuel this stunning thriller by Boston journalist Charles Kenney, whose first novel (the memorable Code of Vengeance, now in paperback) marked him as one of the best new writers on the scene. Jack Devlin, a Harvard law school graduate, has joined the Boston police department as a detective, mostly to probe the mystery of why his father--an honored and much-loved officer--killed himself when Jack was a boy after being accused of bribery. Jack finds evidence that suggests the elder Devlin was innocent. At a church mass for fallen police, at which his father's name is never mentioned or listed, Jack prays "for his father, whom he had loved so dearly. Then hated so desperately. Then loved so dearly, yet again."

Kenney has the rare blessing of compassion for all of his characters, the fallen and failed as well as those seeking the truth. When Jack Devlin takes advantage of the love of a worthy woman to help clear his father's name, we fear for the relationship but also trust that whatever the author decides will be right for the resolution of this immensely moving story. --Dick Adler

Starred Review
"Deception, greed and betrayal drive this well-plotted, moving thriller. Rough-edged but appealing Jack Devlin, a Harvard Law grad who's now a detective with the Boston police, has been assigned to covertly investigate suspected corruption in the BPD ranks. Devlin knows about dirty cops--his father killed himself when he was accused of bribery, a disgrace his son has nver lived down. In fact, the influence of the past permeates and corrodes the events at the heart of this stunning story. For a while, Devlin's investigation seems linked with Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Lawrence's probe of a giant morphine deal involving a former state legislator, and Devlin plays a dicey double game with Lawrence as he falls in love with her bold, canny beauty. But when Devlin finds a letter his father wrote just before his suicide, his anger, shame and devotion set him on a parallel investigation--to uncover the truth behind his father's dishonorable death. All investigations, the corrupt and courageous, converge in the powerful ending, in which readers understand that nothing is as it has seemed. Filled with tough, poignant portraits, disappearing evidence, suspenseful stakeouts and unexpected plot twists, Kenney's (Code of Vengeance) thriller is also distinguished by the author's compassion for his characters." (Jan.)