Customer Reviews

The Third Rail

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a fascinating, convoluted tale that will definitely keep you reading into the wee hours, but a little advice: read very carefully, because there's a bit of trickery involved that almost verges on unfair. I'm going to let that go now, but I had to get it off my chest.

So. Back to the main event. This is Michael Harvey's third Michael Kelly novel and the first I've been lucky enough to get hold of. Therefore, I don't know what I may have missed in the first two, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It includes a back story about Kelly's life, which is at the heart of the mystery, so I felt that I knew Kelly and understood some of why he is who he is even without reading the first two novels. Perhaps the first two books go even further into setting the stage of his life, and I look forward to reading them to find out. In this one, Kelly is a tough guy who's left the Chicago PD to become a PI, but he maintains his contacts within Chicago's civic system and he utilizes them to good effect. He's also familiar with the seamy side of Chicago and knows his way around the bars and the thugs contained within. In this particular case, he brings in an astonishing array of characters and institutions that play important roles in the complex evil he uncovers. The writing is terse, straightforward, and authentic, with dialogue that rings true. The story moves like lightning, and if you blink, you'll miss where it strikes.

The opening scene wastes no time before the action is launched with seemingly random killings on the L, which our hero somehow seems to be involved in. As bodies begin piling up, Kelly's involvement appears to deepen, and the reader is given glimpses of some very evil perpetrators. Homeland Security, the FBI, and Chicago's finest all converge to decipher the mysterious threats to the city, and Kelly is forced to work through and around the various law enforcement agencies that mostly hinder his progress. As the threats escalate and extend to Kelly's significant other, he becomes convinced that his own personal pain is the primary purpose of all the attacks. But there's a web of greed and larceny that even Kelly doesn't suspect at first, and lives are damaged and lost as the plot thickens. Kelly seems a bit of an aloof character, but his image is mellowed by a sweet pup named Maggie, who seems content to stay home by herself and never go outside for potty breaks, and a love affair with a lady judge who pays a high price for her connection to him.

I would recommend this book to readers who like a complex but ultimately satisfying plot and a setting-dominated story. Chicago is definitely one of the main characters in the book! And suspense is present in abundance. Also, let it be noted that an important incident in the book is based on a true event that occurred on Chicago's L, and that a terrorism report cited in the book is an actual report by the U.S. government.

This book has a beginning that grabs you from the start. What appears to be a serial killer targets and kills a woman in a Chicago subway within sight of Chicago private investigator Michael Kelly. Kelly gives chase and is set-upon by the shooter or a possible accomplice of the shooter. Kelly is warned and knocked unconscious. Soon after the shooter kills two more people on a subway and then contacts Kelly.

With a possible panic on his hands the Chicago Mayor tells Kelly to not take the shooter alive. The FBI is involved in the case led by a female agent. As the plot unfolds, everything seems to center around a church and a train incident that happened to Kelly when he was a youth.

The book itself is short and fairly fast paced. A lot of things bothered me a about it though. The FBI is made to look like a bunch of bumblers and the Chicago PD is shown to be inept too. Kelly seems to have a computer guy helping him out that is way more sophisticated than the FBI techs. The book also borrows from current events such as the scandals happening in the Church and the threat of terrorist attack in the subways. If each major city depended on someone like Kelly alone to save them then there would be a whole lot more incidents. The best that I can give this book is three stars.

In Chicago, at the Southport L Station, Robles sees the woman alone by the stairs and fires a shot into her temple. Soon afterward he slices the throat of building manager Halter who welcomed him as a new tenant as Robles prepared for his next shoot. From the room's window he fires at a passing train exploding a passenger's head. Soon following that spree, the sniper kills three commuters on Lake Shore Drive, but failed to assassinate former cop turned private investigator Michael Kelly's girlfriend Judge Rachel Swenson.

CPD and FBI work the case, but Chicago mayor John J. Wilson hires Kelly off the books as the sleuth is actively involved as the killer taunts him via cell phone. Soon the sleuth believes there are two culprits working in harmonious synchronization while also wondering if somehow the murder spree is not quite as random as assumed; perhaps even going back three decades to when as a tweener Kelly survived an elevated train tragedy.

The third Kelly Windy City Noir (see The Chicago Way and The Fifth Floor) is a superb thriller that grips the audience with the first shot fired and never slows down until the final confrontation. The story line effortlessly switches from Kelly's first person viewpoint starting with a gun butt to his head and a profound third person look into the heads of deadly duet. The Third Rail is a fabulous Chicago cat and mouse investigative tale that never wastes a twitter of a moment even with a great twist that turns Kelly into a city hero though he never fires the key shot.

Harriet Klausner

Religion and politics are subjects we learn to avoid in conversation, because they cause others to categorize us and look at us with blinders half covering their perceptions. About half-way into this book, the religious and political views of the author were front and center, and his writing--which had been so enjoyable to read in his first two books--suddenly became all too predictable. Indeed, two-thirds of the way through the book, the dreaded 6-letter word (B-O-R-I-N-G) popped into my mind. I stuck it out to the end, but the word ultimately fit. We can tell reading Chandler, Hammett, and Mosley that they are liberals, but it doesn't guide their books or needlessly infect their characters. This author and his characters are now hopeless infected, which is too bad.

Michael Harvey's third novel to feature Chicago private eye Michael Kelly is titled, The Third Rail. This time out, Kelly finds himself in the center of a killing spree and gets played by the mayor, the feds, the police, and most especially, the killer. Squeamish readers will find the violence over the top, and mystery lovers will have the good and bad guys sorted out without much strain to the little gray cells. Readers who like escape thriller novels will be entertained by this novel. This is a decent selection for an airplane ride or on vacation, since it doesn't require much effort to read. Readers looking for deeper character development won't find it here.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

The Third Rail by Michael Harvey was my first time reading this author. He has also authored The Chicago Way and The Fifth Floor . I'm going to assume that the first two are just as riveting and will be on my TBR list soon...besides Michael Connelly has recommended him and I always pay attention to those who get praise from this favorite author of mine...

Individual acts of terrorism are just a little bit scarier these days, so plan early to hate Robles, the man who nobody notices as he walks on the platform as people wait for the train, then leisurely decides that a woman, putting on her lipstick, will be the one, shooting her in the temple. He then calmly walks away and onto the streets, not too fast, for he wants a man to follow...

And he was! And Robles could have killed him right there on the streets. That he didn't was his mistake.

Robles next chose a rifle and watched through the scope as the train went by, he found a young Latino woman with her head bend, reading. She looked up right at him, at that last moment...

Michael Kelly is our hero--a former cop turned PI.

And he is also the ultimate victim for the killer!

In fact, he even calls Kelly so that the cat and mouse game on definitely occur!

Of course the police believe that this is just a "smoke screen" so they politely exclude Kelly from participating in any of the major discussions and planning of the inner circle. It was his thought at his exclusion that he now fully realized the reason why criminals chose their careers!

While more bodies pile up, some found by the police, some not, but found and ignored by Kelly, Michael was close behind, even to the point of seeing the red dot flick and being forced to dive aside... if this guy wasn't out to kill Kelly, he was still doing a great job of trying!

And then Kelly started pulling things together, and it went back 30 years when a train had crashed in the Loop. And finally, others were listening. Michael had been just a boy, 9, as he rode the curve, knowing that something was wrong--just as the train he was riding barrelled into one sitting idle...

Can individual suffering from abuse, loss, anger and frustration ever become justification for acts of terrorism? When those who are in places of trust and respect turn evil actions towards those with no ability to help themselves, should it be forgiven and just forgotten--and is that possible?

Perhaps not, but it does happen and, when it does, it rarely stops unless someone like Michael Kelly takes the role of the cat in the game. I was reminded somewhat of those early novels by James Patterson that provided such exciting drama as we followed the steps needed to have the criminal finally stopped. Michael Harvey, in The Third Rail, sets those harrowing chase scenes in the middle of our cities, highlighting just how easily it all can happen!

Harvey's real-to-life drama is downright scary...until he adds his great hero! The combination makes for exciting up-all-night reading! Thriller lovers - consider this a must-read!

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G. A. Bixler

Hmm. I posted a review a few days ago, but it's disappeared. Here's what I wanted to say about this book: No one writes about Chicago the way Michael Harvey does. Granted, he focuses on the seamy side, and it's all very noir, but also very authentic. I'm a Chicagoan, and the city comes alive in his books. These stories really couldn't take place anywhere else. This book is particularly impressive in how it weaves together some of Chicago's least attractive aspects: politics, religion and corruption in business. It was a quick and moody read. I think the short-chapter format works well. It has a kind of machine-gun effect, which is of course very Chicago.

When I reviewed Harvey's first book I said I liked the characters. Unfortunately, I think that is a weakness in this book. I didn't warm up to Mike Kelly or any of the other characters, and consequently I didn't care that much what happened to them. My heart can still pound from plot twists, but I didn't have that extra jolt of adrenalin from being invested in the characters.

I would call it good but not great. Maybe the next one will be great.

From what I'd read about Harvey's books I had expected the author to be Chicago's Raymond Chandler. Perhaps there is more atmosphere in The Chicago Way (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) or The Fifth Floor (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard), but in his newest novel I found any feel for the city to be limited to the use of street or neighborhood names. Nor was I very impressed with the author's prose or style; he is (as of yet, at least) no contemporary Chandler.

Harvey does tell a decent story that holds your interest, initially alternating between a first-person narration by his private investigator, Michael Kelly, and a third-person account of the actions of those responsible for a horrific killing spree.

As is often the case with today's thrillers, this one doesn't really make a lot of sense. Certainly someone would have noticed that the villain was a maniac long before now, and the motivation really doesn't add up. And we have the same portrayal of certain institutions as corrupt that we come to expect and with no really new or interesting angle. The bottom line is that I didn't really buy this story, and I had the feeling I've read it all before.

It's a fun and fast read, but it's very forgettable.

Have read all three, and Harvey has a knack for creating characters we care about with only a few strokes. And he uses Chicago well as his setting. Some gripes that keep it from being as good as his previous novels: plot is a bit over-wrought, taking on too many villains. Second, tiresome conceit that the only way to catch bad guys is to operate outside the rule of law, mostly because the police and the Feds are wholly inept or corrupt. Finally, the revolving-door relationships are becoming hackneyed. But Harvey writes well, Kelly is a good character, and Chicago is a great setting.

The Third Rail was another excellent read from Author Michael Harvey. Fast paced, twisting intrigue, gritty Chicago style journalism at its finest. Looking forward to his next masterpiece!