West Side

Thorn Savage NYPD #4

by John Mackie

In a Manhattan bar, two strangers pick up a young man—a soon-to-be-dead look-alike for one of them. Later, when a patient dies in the office of a West Side neurologist, the NYPD demands an autopsy. But the death is ruled a simple heart attack. The body and any potential evidence are cremated, the insurance company pays a million and a half to the beneficiary—and a perfect fraud is complete. But now the partners in crime are thinking that one perfect scam deserves another. All they need is their next victim….

When Detective Sergeant Thorn Savage and his Manhattan South Homicide squad are assigned to the stalled case, their investigation takes them into the city’s seamy underbelly, where dangerous fun—and the answers to an ingenious murder case—await those who know where to find them….

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2005

About the author

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, John spent his early years dreaming of baseball glory and idolizing the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Though his path didn’t lead to third base, it did take him to the streets of New York City as a decorated police officer. During his 17-year career with the NYPD—serving in Times Square, Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Brownsville—he earned over thirty commendations, including the Medal of Valor.
Forced into early retirement due to injury, John embarked on a new chapter as a writer, channeling his passion and grit into fiction. His debut novel Manhattan South was published by NAL/Penguin in 2002, followed by Manhattan North, East Side, West Side, and To Kill a Queen (2012). He now lives in Florida, continuing to write with the same determination that guided him on the beat.