Dermot Sparhawk, a recovering alcoholic and former Boston college football hero, is back in the game of life. Dermot presently works in a parish food pantry in the Charlestown area of Boston. He has grown up in the projects and has learned how to survive there. One night, his godfather staggers into the pantry with a knife stuck in his back and dies at Dermot's feet. However, Jeepster Hennessey manages to get a few words out of his mouth before he succumbs.
Now there are IRA connected men showing up at Dermot's door either just asking about or beating him up to find out what his godfather told him and what he might have given Dermot before he died. Dermot is not sharing the clues that Jeepster gave him, at least not sharing with the Irish thugs who want to know. Dermot includes his uncle, cousin, and a fellow football player who is now wheelchair bound, in his search as sounding boards for his theories as he doggedly investigates his godfather's murder.
THE CHARLESTOWN CONNECTION is a thoroughly entertaining story. I truly enjoyed the information I gleaned about the ultimate prize that everyone is after and the secret methods that Jeepster used. I am not giving away any of the wonderfully, thrilling secrets in this story. Tom MacDonald has happily entertained this reader and I would like to read another Dermot Sparhawk story. I definitely will be checking lists for future Tom MacDonald stories.
Dermot Sparhawk, a former All American Boston College
football hero, is stacking cans in a parish food pantry in
Boston's Charlestown, when his godfather, Jeepster
Hennessey, shows up with a knife in his back and dies at
Dermot's feet. Once slated for a professional football
career, now a recovering alcoholic, with a torn-up knee,
Dermot sets out to solve the murder of his godfather with
the help of his Micmac Indian cousin, his paraplegic tenant,
and a former teammate. Dermot's investigation has him
tangling with members of the IRA, FBI, and the Boston mob.
He also is forced to contend with Charlestown's code of
silence and the norms of the neighborhood where he grew up.
Feeling like he did at the height of his game, Dermot uses
his Native American intuition and Irish good looks to help
him uncover clues. Dermot stumbles upon bits and pieces of
information that he cobbles together into an unlikely theory
which leads him on an unexpected trail and to a new mystery
that could cost him his life.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026