Dark Harbor [Hardcover]

David Hosp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

Scott Finn, rising star at a Boston law firm, has worked hard to pull himself out of the Charlestown projects. When the body of his co-worker and old flame, Natalie Caldwell, floats to the surface of Boston Harbor, Finn is grief stricken. But almost immediately, he’s tapped by the firm to replace her in the defense of a high-profile client. As he retraces Natalie’s footsteps, Finn begins to unravel the awful mystery of her murder. But police lieutenant Linda Flaherty is also hot on the trail. What neither Finn nor Flaherty realize is what’s at stake if the truth is uncovered: billions of dollars, the careers of the Massachusetts elite, and their own survival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Compelling characters pulse through attorney Hosp's surprisingly engaging fiction debut. Why surprising? Because readers will think they've seen all this before, and more stylishly told: there's a gritty urban center (Boston) menaced by a serial killer (nicknamed "Little Jack" because of his similarities to the legendary Ripper) but protected by a tough cop (prickly police lieutenant Linda Flaherty). But Hosp works some wrinkles on the formula with a terrorist subplot and digs deep for complex portraits of Flaherty and a jittery suspect, lawyer Scott Finn. Finn was the last known person to see Natalie Caldwell, the killer's latest victim, alive: they were colleagues at the prestigious law firm as well as former lovers. At the time of her death, Natalie was defending a local security company against liability in the terrorist bombing of a commuter train. Grief over Natalie's death exacerbates Finn's feeling that he's in over his head, both with Natalie's case, which he inherits, and at the white shoe firm, where his humble roots and blue-collar affinities set him apart. Flaherty feels similarly besieged, though her demons are detective subordinates whom she can't completely trust or control. Hosp's plotting is shaggy and his book feels overlong, but by following his two protagonists into the mundane corners of their lives, he earns genuine empathy for these flawed human beings struggling to be both ethical and effective. Agent, Lisa Vance. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

DAVID HOSP is a Boston attorney who received his BA from Dartmouth College and his JD from George Washington University. He lives with his wife, son, and daughter south of the city. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1ST edition (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044657693X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446576932
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,259,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In addition to being a novelist, David Hosp is a lawyer and a partner in the Trial Department at Goodwin Procter LLP, one of Boston's oldest and largest law firms. He was born in New York and grew up primarily in Manhattan and Rye, New York. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and of The George Washington University Law School. During college, he also studied at the London School of Economics.

After graduating from Law School, Mr. Hosp returned to New York, where he practiced law at a large Wall Street law firm before moving to Boston and beginning his practice with Goodwin Procter. He spends a significant portion of his legal career working pro bono with organizations like The Boston Public Library and The New England Innocence Project. His third book, "Innocence," was inspired by his representation of a man wrongly convicted of the attempted murder of a Boston police officer in 1997, who was exonerated through DNA evidence in 2004.

Hosp's first novel, "Dark Harbor," was a Barry Award nominee for Best First Novel and a Book Sense Pick of the Month. Hosp's third novel, "Innocence," was named one of 2009's best summer reads by The Daily Telegraph.

Hosp lives south of Boston with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Make some room, Dennis Lehane. You have company., July 9, 2005

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dark Harbor (Hardcover)

Providing an exciting story that includes the highs and lows of Boston life, lawyer David Hosp's debut novel ranges from Beacon Hill to Southie, from a "white shoe" law firm to a ghoulish home "operating room," from security company offices to exploding trains, and from the Governor's office to the dark corners where associates of fugitive mob boss Whitey Bulger converge. Scott Finn, an orphan from Southie who worked his way out of juvenile detention and into a job at a prestigious Boston law firm, is devastated when his colleague and former lover, Natalie Caldwell, turns up dead on the Southie waterfront.

While police are investigating Natalie's death, Finn accepts the job of representing Huron Security in a major lawsuit, a case that Natalie was preparing when she died. Huron was in charge of security when a terrorist planted and detonated bombs on twelve rail cars, killing dozens of commuters, and a young widow has sued. When the governor of Massachusetts and his chief aide take an unnatural interest in Natalie's death and Finn himself is physically "warned," he knows he must investigate all aspects of Natalie's life if he is going to solve the case. Soon, he himself is under suspicion for her murder. An edge-of-your-seat conclusion worthy of the big screen ties up the loose ends and sets the scene for a possible series featuring Finn.

Although Hosp employs some melodramatic details at the beginning of the novel (the hand of a dead body reaching out "for help," and a man facing imminent death grabbing for the family photo in his pocket), he soon settles down and lets his plots and subplots develop more naturally. His depiction of Southie, the characters who populate it, the "presence" of real-life fugitive Whitey Bulger, and references to the trial of John Connolly, an FBI officer who handled Whitey and then went to jail for becoming "too close," set the scene and add realism and local color to the novel. Finn's own connections to Southie provide a bridge between the uptown characters, governmental offices, and the movers and shakers of Southie.

Occasionally, Hosp's clumsiness with key details--and the attempt to drop red herrings--are obvious and telegraph the reader that s/he is being manipulated. The inclusion of too-helpful friends and colleagues, along with Finn's own loose lips about crucial information, are the marks of an inexperienced author trying to control outcomes. Hosp does not have the literary flair or style of Lehane, but this Boston mystery, overall, is exciting, well-paced and clever, ideal for the beach, and great fun to read. Mary Whipple

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great find!!, August 24, 2005

By 

Janet Slezak "book addict" (Stratford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Harbor (Hardcover)

Scott Finn was orphaned at an early age and had a rough upbringing, spending most of it trying to survive on the tough streets of Boston, yet he managed to pull himself out and now he's on his way to being partner at a big law firm. Life is good, that is until the day they find the body of his friend and former lover Natalie Caldwell floating in the Boston Harbor. He is grief stricken, and becomes determined to make sure they find who killed her.

The police think it's the work of a serial killer they named "Little Jack" because it seems to fit his MO, and after they apprehend him he confesses to all the murders, with the exception of Natalie's. The detective in charge of the investigation, Linda Flaherty, and her partner have doubts that he's lying about not killing Natalie, but because they are strongly pressured into closing the case no one wants to hear about it. Therefore, Flaherty conducts her own investigation and eventually finds out Natalie and Finn were lovers, plus it seems he was the last person to see her alive, so he becomes the focus of her investigation. Now he has to find a way to prove his innocence, and his former life on the streets may be the only thing that helps him. In the meantime, he is thrown in to replace Natalie in a high profile case defending a security company being sued for wrongful death in a terrorist bombing of a commuter train. It's quite a story because he finds out that it's possible Natalie made some enemies in high places while working the case, and he uncovers things he never expected. He fights hard to clear his name but the evidence keeps piling up against him and even though he knows someone is setting him up he can't prove it, until finally he's arrested and charged with murder. This story has great characters, nonstop action, and so many twists and turns that my attention was glued to the pages to find out what happens!

DARK HARBOR is in no way your usual legal thriller; it's better! I wouldn't be surprised if it makes the bestseller list, and fast. Newcomer David Hosp has a style all his own and I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of this great new author. I hope not anyway!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Over the top, February 13, 2007

By 

G. Ware Cornell Jr. "anotherlawyer" (Weston FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Harbor (Mass Market Paperback)

When John Grisham introduced us to Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a Memphis tax boutique controlled by the Mafia, the idea of an in-house firm for the mob was hilarious. These days no one, least of all our hero Scott Finn, is particularly sure that organized crime doesn't just control the firm, but also the governor's office, the US Attorneys Office and the Boston PD.

Finn, who worked and fought his way out of the streets of Southie to the thick-pile carpets of Boston's Brahmin legal establishment, finds himself back among the thugs and characters of the world he thought he left behind. When a fellow associate and friend with benefits is killed by a copycat killer seeking to emulate "Little Jack" who was terrorizing the city Finn is drawn into the fray, where he acquits himself brilliantly while maintaining his place on the partnership track.

Finn even finds a new love interest in the cop who is trying, though not very hard, to put him away. And a childhood friend proves an invaluable ally as Finn attempts to clear himself and clean up the city in the process.

If it seems over the top, it is. But it is good fun too.