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THE PRODIGAL SON by Thomas B. Cavanagh

THE PRODIGAL SON

by Thomas B. Cavanagh

Pub Date: July 8th, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-37707-6
Publisher: Dunne/Minotaur

An ex-cop who’s survived cancer tackles two tough cases as a new private eye.

Fresh from a dangerous case (Head Games, 2007) and from surgery to remove a brain tumor, Mike Garrity is focused on recovery. But when Jimmy Hungerford of A-Plus Investigators urges him to become a private investigator, he takes the offer seriously. Before he can reach a decision, two challenging cases fall into his lap. At the funeral of teenage suicide Victor Madrigas, a classmate of Mike’s daughter Jennifer, Victor’s grieving father Ben Madrigas, convinced his son was murdered, hires Mike to prove it. Later, Mike feels sparks with Debbie Watson, another member of his support group whose grave diagnosis is recent. After the couple spends a night together, Debbie solicits Mike’s help in finding the son she gave up for adoption. Busy Mike can barely absorb the news that his ex-wife Cam’s pregnancy will make him a father again. Diving into Debbie’s case, he locates her son, Jonathan Dennis. But the young man manages to avoid him with the help of Steven Schumacher, his prickly roommate. Daringly, Mike breaks into their apartment and finds himself first standing over the recently deceased Jonathan and then sitting in jail. When he’s released on bail, he rushes to Debbie’s apartment, but she’s vanished.

Cavanagh’s crackerjack pace and his hero’s lack of self-pity compellingly dramatize the chaos of Mike’s life.