Customer Reviews

Invasion of Privacy: A John Cuddy Mystery (Terrific Series , No 11)

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

 

 

I'm new to the Healy novels. I haven't read all of them, but I've always been pleased. But this is the most interesting of the ones I've read. (Staked Goat, Rescue, Invasion of Privacy, The Only Good Lawyer).

The most interesting thing about this novel is the way the plot turns and you don't notice. By the time you reach the end Healy has taken a whole new route to the conclusion and turned the story on it's ear. When John Cuddy is hired to discover the background of a woman's boyfriend, he gets more than he bargained for. The mob is involved, but there is also a suspicion group of townhouses. When you reach the conclusion you've had, but it's a fun ride. Healy's talent is growing. Keep an eye on him. This series refuses to get stagnant. Try Spiral as well.

I have read all but the last 2 books in this series (and those are sitting on my shelf), and ever single entry is excellent and intelligently written. Cuddy is honorable, tough and smart (although a bit too sanctimonious) and the other characters are always vivid and believable. The mystery here is first-rate; I was shaking my head in amazement after all the pieces came together. Healy deserves to be a lot better known and successful.

Healy serves up a genuine mystery, sure to keep readers off-guard. Unlike that other Boston PI, Healy's book packs more twists, characterization, and realism into this one book than I've read in the last decade's worth of Parker's books. If you're looking for a mystery that doesn't insult your intelligence and keeps you guessing, this is it.

Shamus Award-winner Healy's 11th John Cuddy novel begins with a routine case for the Boston private detective. High powered banker Olga Evorova comes to his office asking him to investigate her boyfriend, Andrew Dees - she wants to marry him, but he's strangely evasive about his past.

Questioning Dees' neighbors and the firm that manages his condo development, in a pretense of looking into the firm itself, Cuddy is warned off by thugs. The management firm doesn't seem to want his business, the neighbors seem to be lying and even the thugs seem like ringers.

But when Cuddy approaches his old mob friend Primo Zuppone, wondering if maybe Dees really is connected, the plot explodes, exposing a sinister underbelly.

Meanwhile, a personal nightmare resurfaces when his new love finds a lump in her breast (Cuddy's first wife died of cancer).

Between relentless mobsters bent on murder and the colder dread of worry, Cuddy hurtles through this one barely one step ahead, uncovering complex secrets that place him squarely in the line of fire.

Cuddy's mental agility is matched by his physical and moral courage and Healy's spare, clean prose captures the suspense of a quick-thinking man caught up in forces he has unwittingly set in motion and which must invevitably end in violence.

This author is one of my favorites. Since these novels take place in Boston, Mass. I can Identify with the settings and places I was born and raised in the Boston area. As always, I enjoyed the book very much.

I hadn't read any of his books before and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed his book. His characters are believable and John Cuddy, a private investigator, is a likable and more realistic character than you will find in many mystery books. A woman, who has fallen in love, has come to Cuddy to get his help to find out more about her lover, because he has been very reticent about disclosing any information about his past. One of her friends distrusts him and has advised her to check up on him. She doesn't want her boyfriend to find out that she is having him investigated. So Cuddy begins his search. In his investigation, he finds out that the man he is investigating is in the witness protection program. His client and her lover disappear and he has another mystery on his hands. The book has several twists and turns, just when you think you have it figured out, something else pops up. I enjoyed the book and will be reading more of his books to see if they are as good as this one.