Customer Reviews

East Side

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mackie writes excellent police procedurals set in the streets of New York City. He captures the feel of the urban landscape without resorting to cliche. These are books for readers who like the whole picture, rather than just meaningless violence.

This was another outstanding book detailing a subject usually spoken in hushed tones. I am not religious but Mackie's explanations were easy to understand. He is a master at correctly describing the streets of New York, you can almost smell it. I eagerly await his next book in this terrific series.

Six priests are murdered. The common thread,with one exception, was that they had been involved with child molestation at an orphanage back in the 1960's. There is a conspiracy coverup that reaches well up into the Archdiocese. Determined police work ultimately saves the Pope who is visiting New York City and conducting New Year's services at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Plenty of action.

Basing this novel on an all-too-recurrent modern scandal within the American branch of the Roman Catholic Church could well have been a minefield of cliches, but author John Mackie (NYPD, retired) manages to make EAST SIDE, his third Thornton Savage novel, a gripping read. Although all the elements are there for predictability, the surprise of Mackie's writing talent is such that EAST SIDE manages to remain raptly engaging to the end.

A serial killer, "The Soldier" is bent on killing priests. The killings at first appear to be random. When Sergeant Savage enters the picture, his investigation is flummoxed by the historically close relationship between the Mayor's Office, the Irish-Catholic-dominated NYPD, and powerful elements in the New York Archdiocese, all of whom want the killer caught without a whiff of scandal. And with the Pope's visit to New York imminent, Savage is also racing the clock.

Mackie never lets us us forget the old adage that the clergy is like manure, fine when spread around the countryside doing its work, but stinking to high heaven when gathered together in one place. Something is definitely rotten in the neighborhood near the Danish Mission to the U.N.

Mackie writes with a sure hand, an impeccable sense of timing, and an appreciation for plot that is unusually well-developed for a relatively new writer. His returning characters are all quintessential New Yorkers, each of whom is slowly evolving as this series continues. He knows New York's pulse beat as well as anybody.

Hopefully, Mackie will not remain relatively unknown for long. Along with MANHATTAN SOUTH and MANHATTAN NORTH, EAST SIDE has definite potential to make the jump into the visual media.

As an addicted reader, an historical novelist (yes, it's available on Amazon.com), and a New York City native, I recommend this series very highly.

I've read Author John Mackie's previous two books and this one shows the same sure hand. Police procedure novels rarely have any surprises as the case moves along. But the ending of this one surprised me and I'm not easily surprised. Following the headlines we've all seen about priests molesting children, Mackie weaves a tale of revenge. One of the molested kids grows up and begins killing the priests who indulged in this twisted practice. But finding the killer is not as simple as it might seem. The cross currents are church officials unwilling to assist the police, politicians unwilling to offend the church, and the difficulty of unraveling a story that reaches back many years. The author handles all this with clarity and skill. You have to admire the way the characters are delinated. Even the dialogue is so authentic. But why not? Mackie was an NYPD veteran and he knows the turf. A must for detective story readers! One Mackie read and you'll be hooked.

As an avid reader of police novels, I have to say that Mr. Mackie has done it again. I have read his two other novels (North/South Side) and can say that every novel that Mr. John Mackie has written, is written with expertise and realism.

In my opinion, Mr. John Mackie has accelerated to the top and like Connelly (Harry Bosch), Cunitz, and Newman (Joe Dante), I have truely enjoyed the Character (Thornton Savage) series. Please keep up the good work.

As in his other two novels, John Mackie is more concerned with police procedure and catching the bad guys than with the "shoot 'em up action" found in other novels.

This novel is timely in that it centers around revenge killings of priests, current and former, for molestations in a NYC boys school during the '60s. Throw in a plot to kill the Pope and you have a page turner.

Something to enjoy on the beach or a long plane flight. Does not require a lot of concentration. Some of the sub plots, regarding the homicide squad, are better enjoyed if Mackie's first two books have been read.

This was a very enjoyable police procedural which, to me, captured the feel of New York. I did feel I'd have been better having read the previous books in the series to understand the characters better, but it was still fast paced and had a couple good twists. While not exceptional, it's a good page-turning read.