Dark Harbor

Publishers Weekly

Compelling characters pulse through attorney Hosp's surprisingly engaging fiction debut. Why surprising? Because readers will think they've seen all this before, and more stylishly told: there's a gritty urban center (Boston) menaced by a serial killer (nicknamed "Little Jack" because of his similarities to the legendary Ripper) but protected by a tough cop (prickly police lieutenant Linda Flaherty). But Hosp works some wrinkles on the formula with a terrorist subplot and digs deep for complex portraits of Flaherty and a jittery suspect, lawyer Scott Finn. Finn was the last known person to see Natalie Caldwell, the killer's latest victim, alive: they were colleagues at the prestigious law firm as well as former lovers. At the time of her death, Natalie was defending a local security company against liability in the terrorist bombing of a commuter train. Grief over Natalie's death exacerbates Finn's feeling that he's in over his head, both with Natalie's case, which he inherits, and at the white shoe firm, where his humble roots and blue-collar affinities set him apart. Flaherty feels similarly besieged, though her demons are detective subordinates whom she can't completely trust or control. Hosp's plotting is shaggy and his book feels overlong, but by following his two protagonists into the mundane corners of their lives, he earns genuine empathy for these flawed human beings struggling to be both ethical and effective. Agent, Lisa Vance. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Attorney Hosp's first novel is a legal thriller/murder mystery featuring Scott Finn, a lawyer on the fast track to a partnership in a prestigious Boston law firm. A child of the city's Charlestown projects who fought his way out of the gangs and violence, he finds his new life threatened when his coworker and former lover, Natalie Caldwell, is killed and dumped in Boston Harbor, apparently by a serial killer. Tapped to take over Natalie's high-profile case, Finn is haunted by her death and becomes embroiled in the mystery of her murder. Both Boston's legal community and shady associates from Finn's youth seem to be involved, and Finn finds himself caught in the middle, fighting for his own life and even becoming the chief suspect in Natalie's murder. This intricate novel is a tremendously satisfying and suspenseful read and will leave readers eagerly anticipating Hosp's next book. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/05.]-Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A debut thriller with familiar ingredients-serial killer, train-bombing terrorists, corrupt lawyers and politicians-and lots of cliches, chopped, mixed in and stirred. For lawyer Scott Finn and police detective Linda Flaherty much rides on their current cases. If Finn can win a big award for the widow who's suing a security company for negligence in the terrorist bombing of a Boston commuter train, he'll be clear of his troubled past and head to a partnership in the prestigious law farm where he toils. (That domestic terrorism has become a plotting canard gives one pause.) If police detective Linda Flaherty can find "Little Jack," a serial killer who apparently just carved up his latest victim, she'll get her belligerent captain off her case. Finn and Flaherty's success in their cases never seems in doubt-Boston attorney Hosp's slack plotting, lumbering pace and grab-bag description ("sent a cold shiver up her spine"; "like the last rats off a sinking ship") suggest early on that few, if any, surprises are on the way. Finn, for example, who has a drinking problem, shares a tense drink date with co-worker Natalie Caldwell, with whom he's been having an affair. The next day another corpse turns up in Boston Harbor and, of course, it's Natalie. An autopsy, though, suggests her gruesome murder may not have been Jack's handiwork, which means a copycat killer may be at large. (The latter's demented, Hannibal Lecter-style musings periodically interrupt the narrative.) Finn feels obligated to find the killer of his friend, so now he's on the case as well, soon edging close to Linda. But their warming relationship cools when Linda uncovers evidence in Finn's apartment linking him to Caldwell'smurder. Clues about Natalie's discovery of a secret deal and the involvement in the case of Boston's Irish mob telegraph the ending. Consistently pedestrian.