Author: John McMahon

Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons

ISBN: 978-0-593-32836-1

I read mostly non-fiction from big traditional publishers now because their old fiction stars have become formulaic, unsurprising, and non-entertaining; and their young authors all too often write the same way. This novel, however, is both surprising and entertaining. Of course, it's written by a relatively new author (at least to me) with a new voice, who is in a place in his career where all those old fiction stars once were as they began their writing careers so many years ago.

This book is also formulaic but in a good way. Good, innovative policing is a bit formulaic (British slang even calls coppers "plods") and not much appreciated these days. Budgets are being slashed as some citizens and politicians call for sending in social workers instead of cops. Imagine doing that in a dangerous domestic dispute when some jerk is threatening his family! Or in a school shooting like the one at the start of this novel. Having studied and admired most policing in both the US and across the pond, it's refreshing to observe once again how a skilled author can turn solid policing into good fiction. McMahon's writing reminds me of early Michael Connelly's; it's that good.

I haven't read the previous two novels in the series, but I presume they can be read independently just like this one. I had no trouble doing so, which is always a worry for series. The main story here is about Detective P. T. Marsh's quest to find out why an assassin was hired to kill his family and who hired him (that assassin is dead, by the way). There are side cases...and the old adage about tangled webs of deceit begins to tie them together.

P.T. and his partner Remy are interesting characters, and that essential requirement of good fiction, good characterization, while a bit homespun here (after all, the setting is northern Georgia) compared to LA (Harry Bosch) or NYC (my detectives Chen and Castilblanco), is well achieved with the two detectives and their supporting cast.

The plot has enough twists and turns to satisfy any reader of crime stories. In good fiction, in spite of Stephen King's objections to the contrary, themes are often more important than plot as they weave in and around the plot to make it more meaningful. While the author missed making a statement about gun control (remember, the novel starts with a school shooting), something most cops want, he skillfully considers the most important theme of the book: The corruption so often seen from the people in power who run our institutions—international, national, state, and local. I won't go into details (no spoilers here), but I'll state that this theme adds to the twists and turns as the detectives untangle those webs of deceit.

There are other important themes that added to my interest. Mason Falls, a small city in Georgia was a surprisingly good choice as a setting for me. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that even that small city in Georgia has "bad sections" ("the numbered streets"). I'm well aware that crime and squalor aren't only a big-city problem, but my own experiences in Georgia made me think that the state is fairly laidback and rural-minded (that perception was already formed by Jimmy Carter's presidency long before I spent any time in the state). In fact, my old hometown in California's Central Valley exhibited many of the same characteristics of Mason Falls when I was growing up. Different drugs, different crimes, but still some crime and squalor in the bad areas that often spilled over. This is a national problem, not just one of the big cities.

There's also a family/race theme here, albeit a stealthy one that's comforting in a way, i.e. both are treated positively. Marsh's wife was black; and his father-in-law, with whom he has a close relationship, is too. Abe, Marsh's mentor and partner before Remy, is black; so is Remy. After all the 2020 electoral hoopla, I don't know if this now is a real phenomenon in Georgia or other parts of the South, but it was in California when I was growing up, and yet another reason I felt right at home in McMahon's Mason Falls.

This was also an easy, comfortable read despite the storyline filled with stressful situations, mostly affecting Marsh. In fact, I read it twice (as I usually do for a Bookpleasures review), the first time for that quality entertainment experience only a good book can provide, and the second time using my eagle-like content- and copy-editing eyes. I'll now comment on some of the good and bad details those eyes found.

First, the flashbacks involving the school shooting, mostly featuring Kelly, the high school teacher who was almost a victim, were annoying (why are they in italics?). I think the novel would have read better without them, using Marsh instead to uncover her story bit by bit. (Some readers might also feel uncomfortable because they're in the third person, while Marsh's point of view is written in first person. That doesn't bother me. I do that myself.) What I just recommended probably will make genre-centric readers think the novel is a mystery and not a thriller, but that would be wrong. Even as it stands or with my recommendation, the book is a mystery/suspense/thriller crime novel, so those who insist on defining genres will have a tough time! And that's a good thing.

To dig into the weeds, I have a few more nits to pick and some praise. There are some questionable comparisons. For example, "her face as plain as homemade soap." It happens that fancy soaps often come now from cottage industries, i.e. they're homemade. There are many incomplete sentences in the narrative that could be much more effective if combined. "I wondered if Hartley had me on camera breaking in to the Golden Oaks. His comments about the liquor store." A much stronger statement would be: "...Golden Oaks, from his comments about the liquor store." Spoken dialogue is a bit simple at times, and, because the author writes P.T. in the first person, I'd like to have seen a lot more done with his internal dialogue. (To be fair, maybe I should get to know P.T. better by reading the first two books?) 

More positive are the song references and some funny moments. For the former, I didn't recognize most of them, but they give an authentic flavor to both characters and settings. The banter between P.T. and Remy is often funny and shows their camaraderie, while one line really tickled me: "He'd been around so long [as a Coca-Cola employee] he probably knew the secret recipe for Coke."

All these little details don't matter much, one way or the other. The bottom line is that this is the best new fiction book from a major publisher that I've read in a long time, since Connelly's The Black Echo, in fact. I hope the author has more P.T. Marsh novels in mind. Unfortunately, it seems he's going to give P.T. a vacation (well deserved perhaps?). The author explained to me that he considers the three P. T. Marsh stories as part of one story arc, a trilogy, if you will, so he has a new project, another law-enforcement thriller, that readers can look forward to reading in the future. In my case, I'll be doing some catch-up, as I am looking forward to reading the first two books in the P.T. Marsh trilogy.

If you have writing aspirations, John says he owes part of his success to ten-plus years in a writing group. I suspect some of that success is also due to moving about the US and seeing a lot of life in his younger years before settling in the LA area. Let's hope he keeps giving us many more interesting stories for many years to come.