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Any town that attracts the trendsetters tends to have two societal elements, the haves and the have-nots. Declan MacManus is definitely a member of the latter group. As summer passes into autumn, Southampton becomes something of a ghost town. Mac has lived in Southampton most of his life. At an early age, his father deserted him and he was adopted by a wealthy man who treated him abominably. As an adult, he has led a mostly empty life, leavened by a few precious friendships. One is with a cab driver named Eddie, and they have an unquestioned loyalty toward each other. The person he is closest to is a man named Augie, and they support each other in the ups and downs of their lives. Mac barely survives by working dead-end jobs augmented by an occasional foray into private investigating. Even that is a reluctant occupation for him, one that he does more to help his few friends than to increase his material wealth. When a powerful PI by the name of Frank Gannon asks him to work for him, he at first says no. It is only when he finds out that he would be helping Augie that he agrees but insists on no pay. One evening while tailing an errant son-in-law, Augie and Mac witness a murder that has been disguised as an accident. This one event leads to everything else that happens in the book. There is a corrupt police department headed by a man who hates Mac passionately. Earlier Mac had caught the chiefžs son attempting to rape Augiežs daughter, Tina, and physically incapacitated him permanently. The Chief has been trying to wreak revenge ever since. There are political machinations, double crosses, cover-ups, switching allegiances and all sorts of plots and counter plots. This is Judsonžs first book, and it is wonderfully written. The prose is evocative and beautifully descriptive. The character of Mac is poignantly painted. It makes your heart ache to look at his lonely life. He has deliberately removed himself from participating in the world in a kind of self-exile, but yet he shows an unwavering loyalty to the people he cares about. As the book closes, you feel that there is a glimmer of hope in the foggy darkness that is his life. Judson only falters in the resolution of the book. He moves into a high action series of events that donžt feel quite consistent with the brooding mood established throughout the rest of the book. Credibility is lost as Mac is stabbed and barely able to function but yet subsequently engages in several rounds of punishing physical altercations. I predict a long and successful career for Judson. He has the rare ability to establish a mood and develop memorable characters within a complex and involving plot. This is an impressive debut novel and one that I enjoyed very much.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, September 2002
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