Kearney’s reunion with his pregnant wife Sara is interrupted by a call notifying him of the shooting murder of his attorney friend, Jack Potter. Potter had started his career in the district attorney’s office and his friendship with Kearney had its origins there. Since Potter was a gay activist, the motive possibilities increase beyond that of an angry client.

The brutal shooting of Kevin’s beloved stallion follows this murder. While Kearney is dealing with this, his police officers jump the gun on a suspect and, in a SWAT approach, kill a man who was having a Post Traumatic Syndrome flashback. This prompts an Internal Affairs investigation as the pressures continue to mount.

Meanwhile on the home front, Kevin is dealing with the fact that his pregnant wife Sara has been ordered to a billet in the Pentagon after the birth of their child, thus advancing her career in the National Guard putting her in line for promotion to colonel.

A new murder victim is discovered and Kevin realizes that she at one time worked with him in her practice of forensic psychology and had testified for the state on occasion. This time the murderer leaves a message: “Everyone dies - two down-two to go, and then you’re dead.”

While investigating that crime, Sara finds a poisoned rat on her doorstep and Kevin realizes that she and their unborn child are the next targets.

Realizing that he does in fact have something in common with the two victims, Kevin starts exhuming his old files looking for the common thread. In a race against time more disasters occur and, as Sara delivers their child, the pace quickens.

This novel pretty much proceeds at a breakneck pace throughout. Because the police procedures are so detailed, instead of being exhausted with the pace, the reader is genuinely caught up in the investigation. The vulnerabilities of law enforcement are rarely shown so explicitly and McGarrity does a tremendous job of humanizing those who serve and protect.

Fans of his have the advantage, as many of the characters must have been developed in prior novels. It doesn’t impede enjoyment but it does provide a hook to seek his backlist. That said, he continues to deepen Kearney’s character and portrays him as a kind, honorable and adaptable man who is rising to the challenge of marriage and fatherhood.

For these many reasons this is not just another detective novel, but an interesting, and worthy summer read.

--Thea Davis