Nashville private investigator Jared McKean has a weakness for women in jeopardy-until one frames him for murder. His DNA and fingerprints are found at the murder scene. His voice is on the victim's answering machine, and the victim was killed by a bullet from his gun. The situation is further complicated by an ex-wife he can't seem to fall out of love with, a son with Down syndrome, a best friend with AIDS, and a teenaged nephew who comes out of the closet and runs away to join a dangerous fringe of the Goth subculture. As Jared tries to clear his name and hold his family together, he is forced to confront the possibility that the killer may be someone close to him, someone he trusts. This time, an unsolved case could cost him his life.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
" Jared comes across convincingly as a savvy and sympathetic good ol’ urban detective who, despite his own difficulties, is ever ready and able to defend people or animals in trouble." - Publisher's Weekly
"It’s a smart story, well constructed and well told. Jared is a solidly designed lead character, and, given that the novel is billed as “a Jared McKean mystery,” it seems likely the author intends the private eye to anchor a series. Not a bad idea, if subsequent novels can keep this one’s nice balance of character and story." - Booklist
"This character-driven PI debut is intriguing because of the protagonist's complicated family. Their presence is important to the story line and makes for a memorable read. Watch for a sequel soon." - Library Journal
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.
"It’s a smart story, well constructed and well told. Jared is a solidly designed lead character, and, given that the novel is billed as “a Jared McKean mystery,” it seems likely the author intends the private eye to anchor a series. Not a bad idea, if subsequent novels can keep this one’s nice balance of character and story." - Booklist
"This character-driven PI debut is intriguing because of the protagonist's complicated family. Their presence is important to the story line and makes for a memorable read. Watch for a sequel soon." - Library Journal
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.
About the Author
Jaden Terrell is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the Tennessee Writers Alliance. The former special education teacher is the Executive Director of the Killer Nashville Crime Literature Conference and a SEMWA Magnolia award winner. A graduate of the Citizen Police Academy and the FBI/TBI Citizen Academy, Terrell has a red belt in Tae Kwon Do and is certified in Equine Sports Massage Therapy.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not your standard, run of the mill PI,
By
This review is from: Racing the Devil (Paperback)
E. Michael Terrell has developed quite the character in PI Jared McKean. He's gritty, yet soft. Complex, yet not complicated. Loaded with plenty of baggage, but he's not jaded. An author's ever present challenge is to "show not tell." Terrell shows us all of Jared's facets, creating not so much a character as a man you might expect to see walking on the street. Or, rather, that you'd hope to meet. He's not perfect. He's made mistakes. Some he regrets, some he's not proud of, but all of them he owns. He'll be the first to tell you he's got issues, but he'll also pitch in and help you solve yours in a heartbeat.
He's real, he's unapologetic, he's someone who (if you're a woman, or maybe even like his gay roommate --though Jared's completely straight) you'll find yourself falling a little in love with. He's surrounded by all types --an ex-wife he never wanted to lose to another man, a child with Down Syndrome, a gay friend (the roommate) who's got AIDS, people setting him up for a murder he didn't commit... Oh yeah, there is a plot to this book. It's a good, twisting one (LOTS of twists with shocking surprises) and an ending that's satisfying. But it's been a week or so since I finished the book and what's remained most is Jared. He's left an imprint on my mind and heart. Terrell did an excellent job in creating a character study of a man who has a lot to be bitter about but grins and bears it with style. It's a refreshing change of pace from the standard kind of PI presented in most novels. But this isn't to say she neglects the plot. She's created a doozie of one there too. It's just that Jared captivated me the most. He's one of the characters you enjoy spending time with. One who's born for a series and who you can't wait to get the next book so you can keep spending time with him. Because in the end, it is the plot you're working through...with this book you never realize it because it's more like you're spending time with a friend who's having problems and you're watching as they deal with them. It's a very refreshing experience. (I know I already used that word, but that's what this book is: something new in a very old and sometimes tired genre.)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gritty novel sets up the perfect nightmare,
By Pat Browning "Author of ABSINTHEOF MALICE" (Yukon, OK USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Racing the Devil (Paperback)
PI Jared McKean is 30-something, ex-Nashville cop, divorced, one son with Down Syndrome, still carrying the torch for his ex-wife. We meet him on a hot June night when he's nursing a drink and his aching heart.
He picks up a woman named Heather for sex in a cheap motel, and wakes up a day and a half later to a newspaper story about the murder of a woman named Amy in his motel room. Heather is long gone. The cops are looking for him. There's a strange gun in his truck, and his keys are missing. This gritty novel sets up the perfect nightmare. The cops have plenty of evidence -- his fingerprints, his semen, his voice on threatening phone calls - all of it in the wrong setting and some of it fake - but how to prove it? The dead woman apparently led a perfect life in a semi-upscale neighborhood: wife of a successful businessman, mother of two young daughters, and faithful member of the Road to Glory Church of the Reclamation. Jared relies on his belief that a murder victim is chosen for a reason, and begins a methodical investigation of who Amy was and why someone wanted her dead. His step-by-step journey leads him into the worlds of pedophilia, identity theft, women's lib, a teenage Goth gang, and horse breeding and training. There are more murders. He gets involved with a couple of truly despicable characters, and the ending is a shocker. RACING THE DEVIL is well plotted and well written. The author has a gift for bringing characters to life on the page. Jared is likeable, even when he spends too much time mourning his failed marriage to the beautiful Maria. At times I wanted to slap him smartly, like Cher in "Moonstruck," and say, Get over it. But he's a stand-up guy, and he has a good support system. His ex-wife still cares for him; her new husband tolerates him. His brother has problems of his own but when push comes to shove, he's there. His ex-partner at Metro Homicide unofficially gives him a little wiggle room while he tries to figure out why and how someone fitted him with a frame. For backup he calls on Billy Mean, an old friend, Viet Nam vet and ex-con, now running a shelter for homeless men, and always ready to knock heads together if need be. In a book full of memorable characters, three will remain with me for a long time: Jared's young son, Paulie, who has Down Syndrome; his housemate, Jay, a gay man with full-blown AIDS; and Birdie, the chipper old woman who serves him lemonade while filling him in on the victim and the victim's family. PAULIE. We get an indelible image of Paulie talking to Jared on the phone: "`Hi, Daddy. Mama crying.' The gravelly little voice made my heart twist. I could see him perched there, maybe on Maria's lap, his stubby fingers curled around the receiver, his slanted eyes crinkling. A little Buddha with Down Syndrome, happy to hear from me, worried about his mama." JAY. He's a longtime friend, a kind soul who takes 20 or 30 pills a day and a variety of supplements to keep his weight up, shares his house with Jared and fusses over him: "It was a good trade. I got cheap room and board, a place to board my horses--a palomino quarter horse named Tex and a black Tennessee Walker called Crockett--and unlimited use of Jay's swimming pool. He got someone to take care of him. The boy friends came and went but I was family." BIRDIE. Jared chides her for being so trusting, opening the door for him even though he's a murder suspect: "`What if I'd really been a murderer? I could have forced my way inside and had my way with you before you had even had a chance to scream.'" "She smiled a beatific smile. `I'm too old for you to have your way with, and I don't need a chance to scream.' She untucked her billowed blouse to reveal a little silver-plated, snub-nosed .38. `All I have to do is stay in close and pull the trigger.'"
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nashville Noir, Perfectly Done,
By
This review is from: Racing the Devil (Paperback)
This is a first-rate PI novel that opens with one of the best-constructed frame-ups I ever read -- positioning the hero, ex-cop Jared McKean, dead center for a first-degree murder charge -- and just gets better as it goes along. When even his former friends on the police force doubt his innocence, McKean finds himself in a three-hundred-sixty-degree nightmare, one that (even to a second-guessing reader like me) seems to have no way out. The setting is Nashville, but it's a real insider's Nashville, as far from Music Row as it's possible to get. Written in spare, note-perfect prose, with a knockout plot and characters who don't go away when you close the cover, this is a terrific book. I hope there's going to be a lot more of Jared McKean.
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