Hard Knocks

Howie Carr

Jan 2012 · Jack Reilly Book 1 · Sold by Forge Books

About this ebook

Following the lead of Boston crime-thriller writers, New York Times bestselling author and radio sensation Howie Carr delivers Hard Knocks-a hard-hitting tale of survival, betrayal, deceit, and murder...in other words, a fictional odyssey through the last thirty years of crime in Boston.

Jack Reilly, a dodgy ex-Boston cop, is trying to make ends meet as a private investigator. When a client is killed, execution style, Reilly finds himself in a whole world of pain. Someone wants him dead-but why? To find out, Reilly must weed through thirty years of duplicity, corruption, and killing...a web of politicians dirtier than mobsters and criminals nobler than senators. He needs to uncover the dangerous truth behind the bribery, blood, and backdoor deals that define the highest levels of both organized crime and State House politics-before it's too late.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

Howie I couldn't put the book down, although I read it on googleplay. It was fast-paced, interesting & totally entertaining. I loved how you interwove many names and backdrops from Boston's notorious past (& present?). I hope there is another Jack Reilly book in the near future!

Jack Reilly is an ex-cop trying to make a living as a P.I. His brother, Marty, is in jail and as the story opens, a friend of Marty's who is a former convict, hires Jack but is gunned down shortly thereafter. One of Jack's former academy classmates, Plain View Evans, leads the police investigation and doesn't mind letting Jack know that Evans believes Jack is mixed up in a crime, possibly with the mob. As Jack begins investigating, he reminds me of another Boston, P.I. Robert Parker's wonderful Spencer. The author also seems influenced by Mickey Spillane and in Reilly, we have a new and improved Mike Hammer. The humorous but complicated plot eventually comes together nicely and the reader is drawn into the action. The author is a columnist for the "Boston Herald" and has given the readers an interesting vision of the hard streets of South Boston and politicians on the take and dirty lawmen.

About the author

HOWIE CARR is a columnist for the Boston Herald and author of The Brothers Bulger, which spent eleven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and the New York Times bestseller Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano, Whitey Bulger's Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld. Carr hosts a daily four hour radio talk show that is syndicated throughout New England. Carr has won a National Magazine Award, and in 2008 he was elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame. Carr lives in suburban Boston.