Where It Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman

Gus Murphy is a retired Suffolk County cop who is grieving the loss of his son.  The seemingly healthy teenager keels over on the basketball court and never regains consciousness.  The tragedy changes Gus’s life.  Wallowing is self-pity, he abandons his wife and teenage daughter.  He takes a job at a run-down hotel driving the shuttle bus to the train station on the graveyard shift and lives in a shabby room at the hotel.  His life is reduced to a small circle of shadowy acquaintances and everything about him is sad, soulless, and meaningless.

Then one day ex-con Tommy Delcamino comes to Gus and asks for help.  Tommy’s son, TJ had been murdered four months earlier but the police are not making progress solving the crime.  Seems Gus was the only cop Tommy had ever trusted.  Gus has lost all interest in detective work but his compassion causes him to ask around on Tommy’s behalf.  Gus’s former cop buddies warn him to stay out of it and Gus begins to suspect the Suffolk County police chief is involved.  He also learns TJ had a drug habit and had gotten involved in dealing to support his addiction.  TJ’s best friend leads Gus to the underworld of Long Island and again he is warned to stay away.  But when Gus finds Tommy murdered, he is compelled to find the truth.  As Gus presses forward, the body count grows as do the attempts on his own life.  But in the sorrowful life Gus leads, death threats do not intimidate him.  Death may actually be an improvement to his life at his current depth of grief and despair.

I first came to know Reed Farrel Coleman’s work when he took over the Jesse Stone series from Robert B. Parker’s estate.  Coleman is a seasoned story teller and his strength is in character development… usually development of sad characters.  In Where It Hurts, he tells the story from inside his protagonist, Gus Murphy’s head.  And the story is as dark and brooding as his lead character.  Yet I can’t help but root for Gus… as miserable as he is, he’s a good man at heart and deserves better.  Since Where It Hurts is the first in a series, there is hope for Gus and I look forward to what happens to him next.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced look in exchange for an honest review.