Beyond The Bridge: A Dermot Sparhawk Thriller

by Thomas MacDonald

Overview

Dermot Sparhawk, a former all-American football star at Boston College, returns in Beyond the Bridge, the prequel to Tom MacDonald's award-winning debut novel, The Charlestown Connection.

In Beyond the Bridge, Sparhawk, a struggling alcoholic, agrees to help find the killer of an accused pedophile priest. When two more priests are slain, it becomes evident that it is the work of a sadistic serial killer who crucifies his prey after killing them.

Sparhawk blazes an unconventional trail to the killer that puts him at odds with the very people he is trying to help and initiates a turf war with law enforcement.

He gathers a cadre of unlikely allies, including a parish priest, a police lab criminalist, the district attorney, and a state police lieutenant who help to rebuff attempts to derail him from the case. Then, with the help of his Micmac Indian cousin and his paraplegic tenant and former Boston College teammate, Sparhawk bulldozes his way to the truth, while putting his own life at risk.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608090914
Publisher:	Oceanview Publishing
Publication date:	07/27/2013
Series:	Dermot Sparhawk Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

After a long career in business, Tom MacDonald now works in the non-profit sector. He is also an adjunct professor of creative writing at Boston College. Tom's best-selling first crime novel, The Charlestown Connection, won the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Award, Best First Novel, and was a finalist for the American Librarian Association Book of the Year Award. Tom lives in the Boston area with his wife Maribeth.

Editorial Reviews

Someone is crucifying Boston area priests in MacDonald’s unsuspenseful prequel to his promising debut, 2011’s The Charlestown Connection. Blackie Barboza, the brother of one of the victims, Fr. Netto Barboza, asks Dermot Sparhawk, who struggles with the bottle but has been occupying himself productively by operating a church food pantry, to look into Netto’s murder. Blackie also wants Sparhawk to posthumously exonerate his sibling from allegations of child molestation. The bishop soon charges Sparhawk with determining how the victims are linked. Too often, other characters tell Sparhawk what a good job he’s doing, even though the reader may feel the praise is overblown. Some infelicitous prose (e.g., “Her trim body and Irish face moved across the room with grace”) and improbable developments, such as the Suffolk County DA asking in confidence for novice Sparhawk’s assistance, don’t help. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Beyond the Bridge is a very elegantly constructed puzzle…there’s plenty of action and real ingenuity in how the final revelation is proved. Hence with trumpets blazing and fireworks leaping into the sky, I herald a terrific read…”─ David Marshall, Thinking About Books

“Engrossing from page one, this novel brings to life fascinating people involved in a tantalizing mystery…this intricate crime thriller is riveting and immensely enjoyable and the eventual identity of the suspected serial killer is a shocker.”—Portland Book Review

“…as the pages turned, I fell deeper and deeper into the spell of this thriller…A great read to while away lazy summer hours.”—Bookloons

“Beyond the Bridge is a powerful book that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very last page before the author reveals who the murderer is and why they are killing Catholic priests by nailing them on a cross.”—BestSellersWorld.com & MysteriesGalore.com

“The intricate details of living in Boston area added a lot of social context and truthful feel (verisimilitude.)The main character, Dermot Sparhawk is working in a food pantry for the Catholic Church when one priest is found crucified and then another. And then Another. Dragged into looking into the murders by a brother of one of the priests, Sparhawk finds something coming alive in him. Indeed, the Church even puts their weight behind him, desperate to make more progress in finding the serial killer. Sparhawk gets nothing but abuse from the police, but doggedly asking questions keeps him finding more connections... his life is in danger by mysterious people trying to stop him, including the killer! END: Satisfyingly twisted”—Marty Reads (http://martysreads.blogspot.com/)

“MacDonald delivers a powerful action-packed thriller that quickly pulls you right in the middle of the projects in Boston… MacDonald's writing is clear, easy to follow, and his characters are strongly drawn with just enough intriguing vagrancies to make them genuinely alive and not stereotypes. Hopefully, many will appear again in future novels in this series.” Battling his own alcohol addiction with the odd AA meeting, Sparhawk is a strong and complex protagonist who is honorable to himself and his word as he doggedly strives to keep the promises he makes to others. Fans of PI thrillers will find BEYOND THE BRIDGE worthy of checking out!”—Fresh Fiction

“It’s really pleasing as a reviewer to come across a book that stands out from the pack. So often the pile of books feeds me mediocre to average titles. Beyond the Bridge brightened my day and confirmed Tom MacDonald as a thriller writer to watch. There are two pleasing features to the book…the willingness to explore the poverty and desolation in Boston’s underbelly…a real sense of authenticity about it. Secondly Dermot is an alcoholic and struggling to avoid an early grave through alcohol abuse. This adds a layer to the challenge of solving the case.”—San Francisco / Sacramento Book Review

“Over the length of the novel, the author built a personal growth in Sparhawk that should show a stronger, but still vulnerable, budding investigator in future books.”—BellaOnline

“The prequel to The Charlestown Connection is an engaging amateur sleuth as the protagonist stumbles and fumbles his first case but keeps on charging ahead. Fast-paced, readers will appreciate Sparhawk putting together his offensive line consisting of his Micmac cousin Harraseeket Kid and his paraplegic former BC mate Buck Louis, but not accept insiders joining the rookie's squad. Still fans will appreciate Sparhawk's tour of Boston as he searches for a serial executioner killing priests named as pedophiles.”—The Midwest Book Review

“A true ode to the folks who live in or around the Boston area, writer Tom MacDonald creates a great story using Massachusetts natives, and Bostonian details that add to the fun.
An excellent plot of murder and mayhem, the author offers surprises and does a great job of including the wealth of history that the city of Boston and its citizens retain.”—Suspense Magazine

From the Publisher