Sore Loser
A Mickey Donovan Mystery
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A New York City Police Inspector tracks a serial killer who’s been murdering sports referees in this spectacular crime fiction blockbuster by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mike McAlary
They call Mickey Donovan “the Wraith.” A sometimes-rogue NYPD Deputy Inspector who knows the city top to bottom, he clashes against the police brass and the mayor’s office as he haunts the streets searching for his heroin-addicted daughter, Dillon. But now a truly bizarre serial killer is forcing Donovan’s mind back into the cop game. A very efficient murderer has been targeting the umpires and referees of a variety of sports, both pro and amateur, whose only crimes seem to be questionable calls. Initial suspicion falls on hotheaded tennis star Ginny Glade, who lost a tournament title thanks to a now-deceased line ump’s errant call. Donovan, however, has his doubts—and suddenly a vengeful maniac is causing the deputy’s personal and professional lives to collide in very dangerous ways.
The only foray into crime fiction from Pulitzer Prize–winning newspaper columnist Mike McAlary, Sore Loser is a razor-sharp, lightning-paced winner—rich in atmosphere, insider knowledge of New York, and pitch-perfect urban speak—that respects the time-honored conventions of the police detective novel while reconfiguring them in wildly imaginative ways.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bedecked with humor, shiv-sharp dialogue and a surfeit of urban lore, this surreal fiction debut from New York Daily News columnist McAlary (Good Cop, Bad Cop) crackles from the first page. NYPD inspector Mickey Donovan, aka "The Wraith," walks the city streets trying to find his junkie daughter, Dillon. Professional tennis player Ginny Glade gets a bad line call in a tournament final and beans the umpire in a parking lot with a tire iron. A seemingly random gunshot fired from a passing train kills a female baseball umpire, and Ginny's murderous feelings escalate when her ex-husband hits an unlikely home run during a World Series game. Then another bad call leads to another uniformed stiff. While Ginny seems a good suspect for one or more of the killings, she soon becomes an unlikely mother figure for Dillon, who's driving Donovan to distraction. Umpires keep on dying and an endlessly scheming mayor calls for an arrest. Worse, professional sports lose some of their luster as fearful referees and umpires hesitate to make the good call, settling instead for the safe one. Meanwhile, Mickey falls for Ginny and she responds in kind--but she has also drawn the attention of a murderer. McAlary favors a style somewhere between Jimmy Breslin and veteran crime writer Jerome Charyn, allowing him to seem at once wonderfully well-informed and spectacularly inventive. His dialogue is slick and assured and he takes chances seldom seen in a debut mystery, launching a series to watch and, hopefully, to cherish.
