Third Strike: A Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson Mystery (Brady Coyne and J. W. Jackson Novels) [Hardcover]

Philip R. Craig (Author), William G. Tapply (Author)

Book Description

Series: Brady Coyne and J. W. Jackson Novels | Publication Date: December 4, 2007

Eminent mystery authors Philip R. Craig and William G. Tapply team up for a richly nuanced new installment in the Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson series that is a tribute not only to two witty, smart fictional sleuths but also to the enduring friendship of their creators. It's late August, just when thousands of vacationers on beautiful Martha's Vineyard are preparing to go home so the kids can return to school. There's a problem, though. A union has gone on strike, paralyzing the Steamship Authority, which runs the ferries to "America," and creating panic and anger among many tourists and islanders alike. When an explosion destroys a boat's engine room and kills the striker who apparently planted the bomb, J. W. Jackson, once a Boston cop but now an island man-of-all-work, reluctantly agrees to the widow's pleas that he attempt to prove her husband innocent of the crime. As J.W. begins inquiries, he discovers a complex series of relationships among strikers, scabs, and boat owners, and encounters violence of his own. Meanwhile, Boston attorney Brady Coyne gets a call from a former client now living full-time on the Vineyard, who tells him about a group of armed men loading and unloading mysterious crates at a dock at midnight. Jackson and Coyne get together and discover that not only are their cases connected but that time is running out for them to prevent a crime that could have international ramifications -- and their only hope will be to confront dedicated killers face-to-face....With its winning contrast of page-turning suspense and evocative Vineyard ambiance, "Third Strike" is crime fiction at its best.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two fine mystery writers team up for the third and last time (after Second Sight and First Light), with their series heroes swapping chapters and stories seamlessly. Tapply's Boston lawyer, Brady Coyne, responds to an anguished call for help from an old client living on Martha's Vineyard, where the late Philip Craig's ex-cop, J.W. Jackson, is being urged by his wife to investigate the death of a striking ferry boat worker. The authors, real-life friends, could not have gotten along better than their fictional heroes, who share a love of fishing, eating, family and adventure. The two friends pursue their cases separately and together as tensions caused by the ferry strike mount and a murder raises the stakes. This marks the highly enjoyable and poignant end to a short, sweet series.
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Review

"Two fine mystery writers team up for the third and last time, with their heroes swapping chapters and stories seamlessly." -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1st Scribner Hardcover Ed edition (December 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416532560
• ISBN-13: 978-1416532569
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic who done it, December 8, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Third Strike: A Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson Mystery (Brady Coyne and J. W. Jackson Novels) (Hardcover)

The drivers who operate the ferry entering and leaving Martha's Vineyard are on strike stranding vacationers who have to pay higher prices for goods and services. The first death having to do with the strike is Eduardo Alvarez who got killed when he supposedly blew up the Trident that was crewed with scabs. Alvarez's wife tells Zee Jackson that her husband was a militant pacifist who would have nothing to do with blowing up things. Zee asks her husband detective J. W. to investigate what really happened.

In Boston, lawyer Brady Coyne gets a call from client Larry Bucyck asking him to come to the Vineyard because he needs help. When he gets there, Brady is shown a house where Larry saw a boat running without lights unloading crates and the men were carrying uzis. Brady sleeps over at Larry's house and the next morning leaves the house with his client still sleeping. When he returns, Larry is gone; he finds him in the pigpen, a bullet in his body and obvious signs of torture on the corpse. Brady stays at the home of his friend sleuth J.W. The two men working separately realize both investigations are linked by terrorists who have the same goal. Now J. W. and Brady have to figure out the logistics, the target and the location and then stop them using deadly force if necessary.

Due to the recent death of Phillip R. Craig this is probably the last J.W. Jackson-Brady Coyne collaboration, but this superb tale pays homage to the great author. Readers will feel the loss because this was an exceptional series and THIRD STRIKE is a fantastic who done it. The regional mystery captures the ambience of Martha's Vineyard and makes readers aware that not all who live on the island are rich. The natives who live there year round get much of their bounty from the sea. The pairing of Brady Coyne and J.W. Jackson is well done as each brings something special to the investigation.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Reviewing: Third Strike, May 12, 2008

By 

Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Third Strike: A Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson Mystery (Brady Coyne and J. W. Jackson Novels) (Hardcover)

J. W. Jackson is used to having his wife Zee pushing him to stay out of the deaths and other mysteries that occur on Martha's Vineyard. But, this time, when Eduardo Alverez is killed by an explosion in the engine room of the car and passenger ferry Trident, Zee feels differently. Eduardo may have been a striker but he was also by all accounts a quiet, hard working devoted family man who had no enemies. While the ferry strike continues unabated, Eduardo leaves behind a wife and child full of pain and heartache. Daddy isn't coming home and the police seem to have decided that since he was a striker, he was planting a bomb that just went off earlier than intended. With a little nudge from Zee, J. W. Jackson gets to poking around in the case.

It also doesn't take much convincing to get J. W. to help his old friend Brady Coyne. Coyne is a Boston attorney who has been contacted by one of his clients. The client also lives on Martha's Vineyard and has witnessed strange happenings in the middle of the night at an isolated dock. Men with automatic guns, large crates, and small boats running without their lights seem to indicate trouble but the nature of the trouble is unknown.

Coyne and Jackson begin poking around separately and soon find that their cases are linked. It leads them on a wild chase and a thrilling, though totally unbelievable climax, at one of the island's airstrips.

This is the fundamental problem with this novel. Since this is the third joint book, as well as the latest in a long series by each author, one does not expect sudden character revelations or some abrupt shift in character development. These are well established characters with long histories that aren't about to change. One does expect the plot to make sense. Especially with regards to terrorism these days and it doesn't come close.

Instead, the novel relies on a Hollywood B movie style ending in the big climax that just doesn't work. As such, any reader mildly aware of anything the last few years is apt to lose all suspension of disbelief. Savvy readers may find themselves laughing uncontrollably or launching the book across the room in a fit of annoyance. Either is possible and somebody should have addressed the issue long before the book saw print.

One wonders if this is a case where the author's prestigious names and body of work overruled any editorial considerations regarding the logic of the ending. Or maybe somebody thought Hollywood, where bad guys miss despite emptying clip after clip at the hero, will come calling with their big bucks. Either way, what up until the end had been a fairly good read, was destroyed by ludicrous sheer implausibility.

The authors can and usually do better. It is sad that this time that didn't happen.


Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2008

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great collaborative effort, January 6, 2008

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Third Strike: A Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson Mystery (Brady Coyne and J. W. Jackson Novels) (Hardcover)

Philip Craig's character, J.W. Jackson, lives on Martha's Vineyard where a strike has halted the ferries from crossing over to "America". A man is killed in a boat explosion and police assume that the man was trying to blow up the boat. J.W. is asked by the man's widow to investigate and to prove that her husband died innocently and accidentally. Meanwhile William Tapply's character, Brady Coyne, is called by one of his former clients to come to the Vineyard and help him with a problem. Brady is transported to the island by his old friend J.W., and they soon find that their two cases are related.

Craig and Tapply were close friends when Craig was alive, and their collaboration is smooth and seamless. They write alternate chapters from their characters' point of view and the result is a well-told tale of mystery with the wonderful background of Martha's Vineyard. J.W. is devoted to his wife Zee and his children, as Brady is to his girlfriend, Evie, which adds a refreshing dimension to this book. The world lost a good writer when Philip Craig died, but fortunately his many fans have this book and another one, "Vineyard Chill", to look forward to in June.