The Killing Moon
A Novel
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
With a brilliantly plotted new crime novel set in small-town Massachusetts, Chuck Hogan, prizewinning author of Prince of Thieves, delivers a page-turning, knockout thriller that demonstrates why he is the unrivaled master of gritty suspense.
The crack of a handgun shatters the silence of a warm summer night...A notorious local felon and former child magician vanishes, seemingly without a trace...A corrupt police force applies a stranglehold to a failing town...An ailing old man hatches a last-ditch plan to save the police department he once headed, and the community he still loves...An outsider arrives, bearing a simple recipe for death that could destroy them all...
Buried deep in the rural backcountry of New England, the town of Black Falls isn't dying so much as quietly fading away.
No supermarket. No traffic lights. No ATM. No hope.
Donald Maddox, a man with no law enforcement background -- indeed, no background at all -- has returned to his hometown after fifteen years to find himself employed as an auxiliary patrolman on a local police force known to inspire more fear than trust in its citizenry.
When a brutal murder shatters the isolation of this forgotten place, triggering the arrival of state police homicide detectives and a town-wide manhunt, both the local cops and Maddox appear to have something to hide. As the tightly wound mystery that is Maddox's past begins to unravel, he becomes ensnared in a deadly conspiracy that ultimately threatens his life, as well as the lives of those nearest him.
From its opening pages until its haunting final image, The Killing Moon displays the author's trademark gift for soul-deep characterization, crisp pacing, and unflinching realism. This is Chuck Hogan's richest, most satisfying thriller yet.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hogan's fourth novel (after the Hammett Award winning Prince of Thieves) convincingly and movingly brings alive the dying Massachusetts community of Black Falls, which is plagued by a brain drain and by a corrupt, if small, police force. Don Maddox, the town's first (and only) college scholarship recipient, reneged on his obligation to return and work in the community, but 15 years later the prodigal son shows up for his mother's funeral. Oddly, Maddox becomes a part-time auxiliary policeman, clashing often with his superiors. The author soon reveals Maddox's hidden agenda, which is related to a lucrative drug ring and to a series of murders believed to have been committed by a registered sex offender. Strong characters and a memorable setting more than offset a windup with some predictable cliffhangers.
Customer Reviews
Great book.
Loved the characters and backdrop.