I discovered Michael Harvey thanks to his novel The Third
Rail and I am thrilled that I did.
Of course, I am now in the weird position of having to read
this series from the beginning and from the end
simultaneously, but seriously, this author is so good that I
don't care.
WE ALL FALL DOWN basically starts where The Third
Rail lets
off. These books are based entirely in Chicago, which is
great as I know next to nothing about this city.
Michael Kelly is a retired cop who is racing against time
(and a bunch of bad guys who are not particularly easy to
separate for the "good guys") in order to save the people
of Chicago from becoming ill - thanks to some cleverly
placed anthrax.
First, the main character is quite flawed, which only adds
another layer of interest for me. Kelly is struggling
with personal issues, but always puts his love for this town
ahead of his own interests.
Second, Harvey is great at throwing in a bunch of main
characters who may or may not be who they appear. I love
that I can never figure out who the bad guys are until the
end.
Finally, the action is pretty well non-stop. One event
triggers another as characters are killed off and the
storyline twists and turns.
I love this series, I love this character and I love this
author -nuff said.
Chicago cop turned private investigator Michael Kelly is
racing to save his city from a deadly new foe: a biological
weapon unleashed underground.
When a lightbulb falls in a subway tunnel, it releases a
pathogen that could kill millions. While the mayor postures,
people begin to die, especially on the city’s grim West
Side. Hospitals become morgues. L trains are converted into
rolling hearses. Finally, the government acts, sealing off
entire sections of the city—but are they keeping people out
or in? Meanwhile, Michael Kelly’s hunt for the people who
poisoned his city takes him into the tangled underworld of
Chicago’s West Side gangs and the even more frightening
world of black biology—an elite discipline emerging from the
nation’s premier labs, where scientists play God and will
stop at nothing to preserve their secrecy.
It’s a brave new world . . . and the most audacious
page-turner yet from an emerging modern master.