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Final Currents: PI McGuinness Embarks
In a future world, Gardai Inspector Declan McGuinness retires and meets a man from his past, Spencer Noonan. Noonan wants to give him a special retirement gift--a Rhine River cruise. But there's one Declan has to find the person among the cruise guests who wants to kill Noonan. Declan agrees but needs to get a PI license and go undercover with his wife, Honey.
The cruise is lovely, but the guests are a strange mix. A subsequent murder and attacks lend credence to Noonan's fear, but it's not clear who the real target is. Working with the Gardai, Declan chases down clues involving a mystery robot, a shadowy life-extension project, and an insurrection in Kenya.
By the end, Declan gets his permanent PI license, and Noonan makes a fateful decision for himself and his son.
The cruise is lovely, but the guests are a strange mix. A subsequent murder and attacks lend credence to Noonan's fear, but it's not clear who the real target is. Working with the Gardai, Declan chases down clues involving a mystery robot, a shadowy life-extension project, and an insurrection in Kenya.
By the end, Declan gets his permanent PI license, and Noonan makes a fateful decision for himself and his son.
238 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2024
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April 9, 2026
"Final Currents" is the fittingly titled third novel in the trilogy about Inspector Declan McGuinness of the Gardai (the Irish police force). Set sometime in the future, Declan is tasked with discovering the identity of the attempted killer of Spencer Noonan, a man who Declan previously helped in his prior police work. Now, as he officially retires from the Gardai, Declan is gifted by Noonan with a free, luxury cruise along the Rhine River...so long as Declan can discover the person seeking to take Noonan's life.
It's a great premise for a mystery novel, and the story genuinely took me by surprise with its direction and the way that the Gardai and Declan pull together the threads to discover the truth behind Noonan's supposed killer. There is a lot of careful detail put into the technology and futurism elements, much like in the previous two books, and it feels like the world built in "Sham Rock" and "Faces in the Game" is a fully fleshed out sandbox by this point. The Hourglass Project adds a fun science fiction twist to the mystery, and it's fun as the reader to try and put the puzzle pieces together along with Declan and company. I happened to read this book during finals week at school, which was my mistake - I couldn't put it down!
Sergeant Pat Duffy, Declan's wife Honey, and even Runi the robot are constant companions throughout the story. It was great to see more familiar faces; I felt that in "Faces" I was missing the characters from the first novel who didn't make a return.
I'm hopeful this book isn't the end to Declan's story, or the world that Cadogan has created. There are teases at future tales, now that (SPOILERS) Declan has his PI license. He's retired, not dead (!), and the book's ending doesn't leave the impression that PI McGuinness is quite ready to hang up his laser or give up on solving mysteries or partaking in international chases. One can easily imagine Declan being pulled out of retirement to be launched into a space adventure, after a call from the Irish Taoiseach in which he's told, "Mac, you're the man for the case." I think that may be Declan's natural next step; he's crossed all over the world, and the "final frontier" of the moon, a space station, or otherwise would lend naturally to this series's futuristic and hard science strengths.
As was said at the end of "Sham Rock," the first Declan McGuinness tale, three is magical!
And after reading "Final Currents"...I can't help but agree!
It's a great premise for a mystery novel, and the story genuinely took me by surprise with its direction and the way that the Gardai and Declan pull together the threads to discover the truth behind Noonan's supposed killer. There is a lot of careful detail put into the technology and futurism elements, much like in the previous two books, and it feels like the world built in "Sham Rock" and "Faces in the Game" is a fully fleshed out sandbox by this point. The Hourglass Project adds a fun science fiction twist to the mystery, and it's fun as the reader to try and put the puzzle pieces together along with Declan and company. I happened to read this book during finals week at school, which was my mistake - I couldn't put it down!
Sergeant Pat Duffy, Declan's wife Honey, and even Runi the robot are constant companions throughout the story. It was great to see more familiar faces; I felt that in "Faces" I was missing the characters from the first novel who didn't make a return.
I'm hopeful this book isn't the end to Declan's story, or the world that Cadogan has created. There are teases at future tales, now that (SPOILERS) Declan has his PI license. He's retired, not dead (!), and the book's ending doesn't leave the impression that PI McGuinness is quite ready to hang up his laser or give up on solving mysteries or partaking in international chases. One can easily imagine Declan being pulled out of retirement to be launched into a space adventure, after a call from the Irish Taoiseach in which he's told, "Mac, you're the man for the case." I think that may be Declan's natural next step; he's crossed all over the world, and the "final frontier" of the moon, a space station, or otherwise would lend naturally to this series's futuristic and hard science strengths.
As was said at the end of "Sham Rock," the first Declan McGuinness tale, three is magical!
And after reading "Final Currents"...I can't help but agree!
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