Brighton

by Michael Harvey

An extraordinary thriller—gripping, haunting, and marvelously told—about two friends growing up in a rapidly changing Boston, who must face the sins of their past in the midst of a series of brutal murders

”You came back here to bury your past... Thing is, you gotta kill it first.”

Kevin Pearce—baseball star, honor student, the pride of Brighton—was fifteen when he left town in the back of his uncle’s cab. He and his buddy, Bobby Scales, just committed a heinous act of violence for what they thought were the best of reasons. Kevin didn’t want a pass, but he was getting it anyway. Bobby would stay and face the music; Kevin’s future would remain as bright as ever. At least that was the way things were supposed to work. Except in Brighton, things never work the way they’re supposed to.

Twenty-seven years later, Kevin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Boston Globe. He’s never been back to his old block, having avoided his family and, especially, Bobby Scales. Then he learns his old friend is the prime suspect in a string of local murders. All of the sudden Kevin’s headed home—to protect a friend and the secret they share. To report this story to the end and protect those he loves, he must navigate not only an elusive, slippery killer, but his own corrupted conscience.

A powerhouse of a thriller, Brighton is a riveting and elegiac exploration of promises broken, debts owed, and old wrongs made right . . . no matter what the cost.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Suspense

373 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Michael is the best-selling author of seven crime novels, The Chicago Way, The Fifth Floor, The Third Rail, We All Fall Down, The Innocence Game, The Governor’s Wife and Brighton, scheduled for release in June of 2016. Film rights to Brighton, a stand-alone thriller set in Michael’s hometown of Boston, were recently optioned by Graham King, producer of The Departed and The Town.

Michael is also an investigative reporter, documentary producer and co-creator, producer and executive producer of A&E’s groundbreaking forensic series, Cold Case Files.

Michael’s investigative journalism and documentary work has won multiple news Emmys and CableACE awards, numerous national and international film festival awards, a CINE Golden Eagle, two Prime-Time Emmy nominations, as well as an Academy Award nomination. Michael was also selected by the Chicago Tribune as Chicagoan of the Year in Literature for 2011.

Michael holds a bachelors degree, magna cum laude with honors, in classical languages from Holy Cross College, a law degree with honors from Duke University and a masters degree in journalism from Northwestern University. Michael is currently an adjunct professor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

Michael was born in Boston and lives in Chicago.

Reviews

[Blaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve spent a few days trying to figure out how to explain my issues with this book. To avoid spoiling the plot, I’ll keep it general.

My issues are largely structural. The first quarter of the book takes place in 1975, when Kevin and Bobby are teenagers. At the end—so at the one-quarter mark—we know exactly what happened all those years ago. I suspect the story would have been better served by alternating flashbacks of these early scenes in with the modern-day storyline, so that the answers to both mysteries were revealed nearer the end of the story.

My bigger problem is that the story is told largely from the perspective of Kevin and Bobby, even though they are the least interesting main characters. I would have enjoyed seeing more of the story from the point of view of Kevin’s girlfriend and sisters, who seemed like richer characters, though maybe they only seemed richer because many facets were unexplored. Those additional perspectives may have also made the twists down the stretch a bit more believable.

It is an interesting story, and it oozes with Boston-ness, though some of the dialogue and slang rang false. It reminded me of, but was not as good as, Mystic River or Silent Witness.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

“At the centre of our being is a point of nothingness which
is untouched by sin & by illusion, a point of pure
truth….”
 
By the time Bobby Scales quotes Thomas Merton, you already know he’s not your garden variety thug. But then he never really had a chance to be anything else.
 
The book opens in 1970’s Brighton, a tough suburb of Boston where dreams of a better life tend to die young. Bobby was on his own by the time he hit high school. The closest thing he has to family is Mary Burke, a strong no-nonsense woman who runs a cab company. She looks out for him while keeping an eye on her grandson Kevin Pearce. Mary senses he’s special & vows he’ll make it out of Brighton. But first he’ll have to survive growing up in a house ruled by his drunk, abusive father.
 
By 1975, Bobby & Kevin are inseparable. Times are tough but they have Mary, baseball & each other. Then the unthinkable happens. One night Kevin arrives at his grandmother’s in time to see a young black man run from the building. After racing inside, the first thing he finds is one of his sisters bleeding from stab wounds. The second is Mary’s body. He can’t know it yet but the fallout from this senseless act will define his life for years to come.
 
Fast forward to 2002. Kevin left Brighton in 1975 & never looked back. He’s now an investigative reporter for The Globe & just won a Pulitzer for his series of articles about a black man wrongly accused of murder who was killed in prison. Add to that his relationship with Suffolk County prosecutor Lisa Mignot & life is good. Hold that thought, Kev.
 
Lisa’s office is called in after 2 women are killed in Brighton & she thinks they’re tied to the unsolved murder of a young black man in 1975. When Kevin sneaks a look at the files, his blood runs cold & he knows it’s time…..time to go home & pay his debt to Bobby.
 
Put the kettle on, curl up in your favourite reading spot & turn off the phone because once you crack the cover on this one, you’ll be pissed if you have to put it down. What follows is a complex & heart wrenching story of friendship, loyalty, betrayal & redemption. The author uses the first section to build the history of Kevin & Bobby’s friendship, ensuring that readers become invested. Brighton itself is a major character, so well rendered through descriptions of seedy streets, crowded apartments & hopeless lives that the grit sticks to you fingers.
 
But it’s only as action switches to the present that we learn the truth of everything that happened in the past. And holy crap, are there some shockers lurking in the pages. When Kevin begins his own investigation, his intention is to stay one step ahead of the law & protect Bobby. What he eventually uncovers will rewrite his childhood memories & strip the veneer off the life he’s created.
 
These characters don’t just appear on the page. They come out swinging, shouting & scheming. There are no stick people here. Each is a combination of good & bad, capable of great love & thoughtless violence. Part of the rising tension is due to not knowing who can be trusted when push comes to shove. And while you may dislike some of them, you can also understand how they became who they are. Although it’s ostensibly Kevin’s story, Bobby is the one that stuck with me. He’s a man who never caught a break but will go down swinging to protect a friend or keep a promise.
 
This is a dark & compelling story that will have you holding your breath in the final chapters. It definitely reminded me of books by Dennis Lehane (especially “Mystic River”) & Greg Iles, 2 authors who excel at creating stories that are richly atmospheric. This is the first I’ve read from Mr. Harvey. Guess my groaning TBR pile just got taller.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an incredibly gripping read. The setting of Brighton, a Boston neighborhood, was expertly written, and life there is bleak and rough. Hard drinking men, strong but subservient women, baseball, Catholic priests, and school desegregation are all part of the atmosphere of this book.

Kevin Pearce is a 14 year old. His grandmother sees something in him and she is resolved to free him from Brighton's hold. After a tragedy, Kevin is moved away, and he eventually becomes a Pulitzer prize winning investigative reporter for the Boston Globe. Well, you can take the boy out of the neighborhood, but you can't take the neighborhood out of the boy. Kevin returns 27 years later when his childhood protector, Bobby Scales, is being investigated for the murder of a cop. Bobby is not an upstanding citizen, but he's smart and is a survivor.

What a story! Gambling, drugs, murder, and other crimes are commonplace among Kevin's peers, all of whom remained in Brighton. A crime from 1975 reverberates through the years. Relationships with family and friends are complex, and there is a lot of history between characters. I was entranced and really enjoyed this book!

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin and Bobby were boyhood friends in Brighton until a tragedy forced their separation. Kevin went on to become an investigative journalist and win a Pulitzer Prize while Bobby remained in Brighton and became a bookie. Twenty seven years later, Kevin is drawn back to Brighton to investigate the murder of a young woman. This book started out as a coming of age story and an authentic-feeling slice of life in the Brighton neighborhood. I loved most of the characterizations, except for one character who turned out to be so over-the-top crazy that they were totally unbelievable. What was compelling for me were the interpersonal relationships. Less compelling was the crime story which I thought was unrealistic and too obviously trying to be a movie.

While I thought the book was suspenseful, and it was certainly entertaining, there were just too many coincidences and plot holes and irrational motivations for this to be a five star book for me.

I'm sure Brighton is not a very large place, but still it seemed too easy for the characters to find each other, even when they had no possible way of knowing where they would be. Towards the end of the book, one character desperately needed to hide out, yet they continued to go from place to place meeting with various people instead of just getting the hell out of town. It was an incredibly long departure. Also, conveniently there was always someone to drop a clue or reveal a secret at just the right moment.

There was a very high body count in this book, which I'm sure will increase its chances of being made into a movie. It will probably make an entertaining movie. I hope they find someone good to play Bobby, he was my favorite character.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The town of Brighton is close enough to Boston to be a city neighborhood which was also a rough neighborhood back in the bad old days during the 1970's forced busing. Michael Harvey's working class Irish residents were not the liberal young college grads that populate the gentrified Brighton today. Harvey's brilliantly drawn characters are trying to survive and hide the sins of their youth from their hard luck neighbors, friends, enemies and themselves. Kevin Pearce, an investigative reporter for the Boston Globe, escapes Brighton for Boston leaving his sisters and best friend Bobby Scales behind. The murder of an undercover cop forces Kevin back into Brighton 25 years later to confront a related cold case, a possible serial killer and his own past.

This is one of those rare books that hits you like an NFL linebacker. Much more than complex, page turning crime fiction, Harvey's prose captures the thinking, the attitudes and the tribal loyalty of his Brighton characters from that time and place in a stunningly effective way. The title reads "Brighton" but the locale could just as well be Somerville, Malden, Charlestown, or South Boston. My recommendation: drop what you're reading now and jump all over this book. It will be the best mystery and the best book you read this summer and maybe this year. It's Michael Harvey's breakout novel to date and in my opinion, a crime fiction classic.

[Truman32 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brighton, located in the northwestern corner of Boston has been the venue of many true-life criminal acts. Earlier this year a man known as the Brighton “Tree Ninja” used the cover of night to covertly chop down his neighbor’s trees in their own front lawns as they slept like babies in their beds. And back in 2014 there was a particularly diabolical fellow known as the Brighton Tickler, a serial tickler who would break into houses and surreptitiously tickle the feet of (male only) sleepers. While these deplorable criminals and their nefarious stories torn from the pages of the Boston Globe would more than make for riveting reading, Michael Harvey has chosen to go another route, with his excellent crime novel Brighton.

At fifteen, Kevin Pearce was on the fast track; a baseball star and an A+ student he was well on his way to making something spectacular of his life. But then in a flash of misguided vigilante justice, a man dies and Kevin flees his family and home. His best friend Bobby Scales is left behind to face the crime-ridden streets alone as well as any ramifications from their secret act of violence.

25 years later, Kevin, now a reporter for the Globe is finally back home in Brighton, investigating the murder of an undercover cop. A crime that ties into his own past. A crime that connects to Bobby and the events that drove him away decades ago. As he digs deeper, Kevin begins to fear that the past he worked so hard to escape never went anywhere.

Brighton is a heck of a lot of fun. You don’t believe me? Well maybe my friends John Grisham and Stephen King who freak out about the greatness of this novel on the book jacket like I do when I spot a spider in the basement might persuade you a little more. Harvey’s writing is evocative of the early work from George Pelecanos (back when he was posing for the author photo on the inside book jacket in a white wife-beater tanks) and Dennis Lehane (think Mystic River), where the sense and influence of story’s setting is just as important as the characters’ actions.

The power of family and even greater, the power of your community permeates the story and it’s players. That you can’t escape who you are and where you come from-- which in many instances here is the same thing is the message. Not that Kevin and the other characters don’t try.

The location is sharply drawn, the characters are honest and the violence is damaging. Harvey effortlessly manages to juggle multiple characters as their stories merge into a taut, tension-filled, and tragic conclusion that William Shakespeare would be proud of.

Sure there’s nobody sneaking into bedrooms and tickling the feet of slumbering men, but Brighton is still a riveting read and a book that deserves to be read by many many many people.

[Corny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry but I am in the minority with this review. This is a story that takes place in a working class suburb of Boston and for me it makes little sense. After a murder takes place in 1975 the story jumps to 2002 where the rest of the action takes place. The plot centers around the Pearce family whose oldest child and only son Kevin is yearning in 1975 to break free and leave the neighborhood. When a death occurs, Kevin with the help of his friend Bobby, has to disappear to New York. When we pick him up again he has become a successful investigative journalist with the Boston Globe. We are offered little information about how he spent the 27 years. Suffice it to say that he had not been back to the old neighborhood until 2002.
There is little logic to the chain of events that carries Kevin, his sisters, his friends and his girlfriend through multiple murders to a totally absurd ending.
I did enjoy the author's depiction of Brighton as a place like many other low income suburban towns where if you grow up there, you can't get out.
As for the dialogue, it simply doesn't ring true. I would give this one a pass.

[Gram · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning story, beautifully written. It tumbles out at a pace that will leave you breathless. Each character is drawn to perfection and their lives seem too real for this to be fiction.

There's an old saying - "You can pick your friends but you can't pick your relations" which fits this story perfectly. Old wrongs are righted as even older scores are settled. Long buried lies are brought into the light. The plot's twists and turns are relentless with a finale that you'll never see coming.

I've read all but one of Michael Harvey's novels and this is one of the best. Highly recommended.

[Robert Intriago · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good Boston Noir story. Part one takes place in 1975 in a neighborhood of Boston called Brighton. It is the story of two Irish boys, Kevin and Bobby, and what happens to them during that period of time. Part two takes place in 2002 and involves the return of Kevin to the same neighborhood and his relationship with Bobby and some of the same people that he dealt with back in 1975. The story is populated by a lot of bad people including the main characters. The scale of badness varies among the different characters but they all are beyond the acceptable line. There are several things that I liked about this book. First, the ability of the author to relate the two periods of time and the changes that took place over 27 years. Second, the fact that people in ethnic neighborhoods take care of their own problems without calling on outside help. Third, the false code of honor followed by people that lack a moral compass and finally the rivalry that existed between different areas of town when the ethnic lines were distinct. I would have given this book a 5 but some of the flashbacks were a little bit confusing as I was unable to tell the present from the past. Other than that a very good Noir book that gets a 4.5.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is an instant classic, which I read slowly to savor. Harvey is one of the most beautiful of all prose stylists but he is also a storyteller of great power. The setting and the characters in this book, set in Boston's Brighton neighborhood in the 70's and beyond, follows the paths of two boys - after a family tragedy, one becomes a prize wining journalist and one becomes a bookie and career criminal. While it bears a resemblance to The Departed and Dennis Lehane's great Mystic River, Harvey is telling his own story. He's a gritty storyteller who also finds poetry and meaning in what he writes about. I have long been a fan of his, but this book is absolutely exceptional. If there is a better book published in 2016 I would like to read it.

[Sue Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn on this one. The first third of the book is full of beautiful phrases and descriptions, but I found it awfully confusing. I couldn't keep the characters straight. The end of the book is twisty and almost redeemed the beginning. I was torn between three and four stars, and I rounded down after much consideration.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a really shallow person. After reading the first few pages which involve a dog I just couldn't read any further. I sort of understood the motivation but just could not get past that particular scene. So it was a dnf and I am unable to recommend to the normal crew.

[Gary Branson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Suspenseful and thrilling. Sympathetic characters. Reminiscent of the best by Dennis Lehane. Only bad thing about finishing a Michael Harvey is the wait for the next one.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a solid and well-written thriller, so maybe my rating is unfair. It started out promising, with a disturbing euthanasia-type killing that cast childhood friend Bobby as a morally ambiguous character. And then built up a friendship that led to Bobby taking one for the team to protect his friend, Kevin, who then gets to escape their crappy town and go on to do big things -- like winning a Pulitzer. The beginning hooked me, but didn't hold me.

Kevin comes back to town years later amid resparked interest in the murder that had him fleeing from home, and its connection to the Pulitzer piece he wrote. From there, things went a bit downhill for me. I found the plot to be confusing. I wasn't sure who was a good guy and who was a bad guy or whether I liked anyone. I wish the author had taken more time to develop the characters and backstories of Kevin, Bobby, Kevin's sisters, and Kevin's DA girlfriend. When their stories unfolded, things just made no sense to me because I had no sense of who anyone really was. To be honest, about halfway through, I just started reading fast to get to the end. I really didn't care who do what because I hadn't connected to the characters or their motivations. Just kind ehhhh for me.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Following the murder of his grandmother in a low-income neighborhood outside Boston, 12-year old Kevin is sent to New York by his friend Bobby, who promised Kevin’s grandmother he would always look out for her grandson should anything happen to her. Twenty-seven years later, Kevin is an investigative journalist who just won a Pulitzer Prize, and after finding a file with the name of his grandmother’s killer in his prosecutor girlfriend’s briefcase, he returns home to Brighton, dredging up some ugly truths about his past.

The beginning starts out in 1975 and had a very confusing, rushed feeling to it, as though the author was trying to quickly establish the foundation of the book before jumping into the core of the plot set over 25 years in the future. Thankfully, the rushed rhythm slowed, but there was so much going on, the confusion lingered throughout, and while the perpetrator was a surprise, it was mostly out of my inability to follow along with what was happening, not because it was a well-crafted plot. Sadly, I was never able to really engage in the plot, so the conclusion did not have the impact the author intended. 2.5 stars

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended book. He said: "Helluva Boston crime novel. Helluva novel, period. If you liked THE DEPARTED, you'll like this. Drops in June."

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen King called bingo in his blurb on the front cover by saying "Brighton is the fucking bomb! I loved it." This reminded me very much of Grist Mill Road and Sleepers in the sense that all are crime fiction, but there's a softness to the stories. The prologue opens with a horrific act that damn near made me sick to my stomach which says a lot when crime shows are my favorite to watch late at night. The plot was slow to get going, kind of like a roller coaster that slowly chugs along towards a huge drop and then doesn't slow down until the end except that roller coaster is indoors and completely dark so you can't see anything. Highly recommended, just don't say I didn't warn you about the very beginning.

[John Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up two blocks from where most of this story takes place so I found all of the references to real Brighton stores and parks interesting. Harvey does a good job of describing that neighborhood of Boston, although it was not quite as gritty and desperate as in the novel. This is fiction though. Not social history. (Today it is actually somewhat gentrified.) I wonder if the many references are confusing to readers not familiar with the time and place?

Often, mysteries are tightly wrapped so that the plot gets wrapped up in surprising and satisfying ways. This plot has a bit of OCD. Everyone is connected to everyone else and in unlikely ways. The main character just happens to live with the prosecutor on the case and people are jumping into the passenger seat of other people's cars far too often to be believable. Guns and knives are constantly held to people's heads and throats. Characters appear at convenient time to help wrap up the plot.

[Nicolette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and found the twists to be unpredictable. Its possible it gained a half a star or so because it is set in my neighborhood, although the culture described in 2002 couldn't be more different than what I experience in 2016. I'm not sure if things have cleaned up a lot in the last 14 years, I am naive, or its just a matter of fiction melding with reality.

In once section, the author specifically describes the street where I live: "...parked on a hilly side street full of shitty apartments rented out to students and even shittier apartments reserved for Brighton's illegals." Well, Michael Harvey, you can add young professionals who read your books to that list.

[Maureen DeLuca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm on the minority on this book- maybe not quite a 2 star read- perhaps 2.5? Either way- I don't want to say anything more - this book just didn't 'move' me like it did with others. But, having said that- It is worth a shot at reading - considering all the other reviews!

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough Boston-Noir reads like a cross between The Wire, Denis Lehane's Mystic River and Johnny Depp's film, Black Mass, about gangster Whitey Bulger. Set in two time-periods it overflows with family violence, corruption and gang action. A page-turner that pulls the reader along for a hard, jolting ride. - BH.

[Jjean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written thriller/mystery -Plenty of Suspense and action - characters you liked & others not - gave character history of why the enemies were enemies -

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Harvey is best known for his Chicago mysteries, but he sets this one in Boston where he grew up.

It's a taut thriller, and I will try hard not to give away essentials that will ruin the twists and turns. Kevin Pearce grew up in the title neighborhood, full of poor Irish-American families where the common theme often was hard drinking abusive fathers combined with long suffering, protective women. As a rising young baseball star, Kevin just wanted to learn to drive, make it to the pros and have some luck with women. Instead, he finds himself confronted with a horrible crime and a thirst for revenge.

He does seek out his revenge, and might not have made it out alive from that crazy gamble if not for his older and much tougher friend, Bobby Scales. Bobby does what needs to be done and then makes sure Kevin is hustled out of state and kept away from any of the aftermath.

Flash forward several years, and Kevin is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the Boston Globe, having exonerated a black man for killing a young woman, unfortunately only after the wrongly convicted man had died in prison.

Suddenly, though, Kevin's new life and old life collide, when he discovers through his prosecutor girlfriend that there are connections between the killing he investigated and the one he himself was involved in (his girlfriend is unaware of his role in the earlier killing). In the meantime, his old friend Bobby has become a bookie and a prime suspect.

Complicating matters is a desire by a branch of the Mafia in Providence to move in on the territory that Bobby now runs.

Where it will all end, who is responsible for the growing list of killings and how Kevin and Bobby work out their futures -- you'll have to discover that for yourself. Harvey provides plenty of twists and turns that are plausible, plus strong, non-stereotyped portrayals of the main characters.

Well worth the read

[Joe Kucharski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brighton is a gritty whodunit murder mystery wrapped in the backdrop of a working man’s crime story – and I loved every minute of reading it.

Michael Harvey has been compared to Elmore Leonard, and high-praise aside, that’s a fair enough assessment. Harvey generates seedy characters aplenty, writes quick, crisp dialogue with a lightning-fast plot. But man, I see Dennis Lehane’s worthy handy work all over the place like fingerprints in a Southie brothel. The Boston setting aside, Harvey, like Lehane, paints the environ in unflatteringly-realistic hues. The potholed streets, the weed-infested parks, the dirty benches, and slophouse pubs. Homes aren’t just lived-in spaces, but overused and dilapidated. Everyone in the neighborhood is working on con, even if that con is simply staying alive while commiserating over a Sam Adams, while the sky above is eternally gray and cold.

The mystery brought forth in Brighton involves the murders of a number of different women, similar in class, perhaps, save for one. Newly-crowned, Pulitzer-winning, investigative journalist/walking cliché Kevin Pearce takes on the task of putting clues together, even though most of those clues point to his childhood buddy Bobby Scales… as well as himself. Craziness ensues and the mystery runs as deep as the 70s while Harvey snares you as reader, making each chapter-break a mini-cliffhanger prompting you to read on and on throughout the night and to hell with that 8 AM marketing call you have scheduled for the next morning. Yeah, Brighton pounds you like the Bruins D and makes you ask for more.

I’ve been to Boston all of two times in my life. After reading tales such as these, I should have no desire to return. Although, I think I do. I want to walk these mapped-out roads, and throw back a shot of Finnegan’s at some Market Street hole. To be haunted as I roam the cobblestones. But I could definitely live without having to be murdered to enjoy the story.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, gripping, spine tingling, and a page turner.

Brighton Two young boys, brothers in spirit lives become intertwined. Kevin Pearce meets Bobby Scales on the riverbank. Bobby, taken in by Kevin's grandma, and Kevin are lives are changed in an action that changes their lives forever. Kevin's uncle takes him away to New York City, and Bobby stays behind in Brighton.

You are introduced to Kevin's family from his grandmother and her brothers, to his aunt you lives in an apartment but talks thru a hole compared to a mouse hole, to his mother and father, and his sister Bridget and Colleen. All are in the cycle of domestic abuse in one way or the other.

Twenty-six years later, Kevin returns to Brighton and the brother's reunite.

The book takes you from their childhood years to their adulthood. One winning the Pulitzer Prize and the other one a street entrepreneur. Harvey has woven a tale of family secrets, loyalty , friendship and mystery all in one wonderful page turning delight.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. Good guy makes a mistake at 15. Gets out of town, makes it big, and goes back to his old neighborhood years later. Everyone he knew is either on the take, dead, in prison, or headed to to those places. It's kind of sad overall. But in the long run its a great thriller that I found hard to put down. I found myself falling asleep with the book still open several times, not wanting to give up. But alas, I was tired of reading the same page like 4 times and gave up. However, you can guarantee it was the first thing I did when I woke up early the next morning.

This was a great read. And if you think you've got it all figured out, guess again. There's a huge surprise twist after twist at the end. This was my first Michael Harvey book and it won't be my last. I guarantee you won't be disappointed by this one. The ARC cover says it's already optioned for a movie, can't wait to see it!!!

I received a free ARC as a contest winner from Shelf Awareness. Thanks for pulling my name out of the hat!

[Don Gorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4) This book starts off a little snoozy and very dark, but from there, it is all twists, turns, action and stomach turning events. This is a terrific mystery, very family based, and full of Boston flavor, culture and characters. Don't skim a page of this one or you will miss something important going on. The way the characters seem to come back to each other in different scenarios is remarkable, and I can assure you, you will have a hard time putting this one down. Really good stuff.

[Roxy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading Harvey’s Michael Kelly series years ago, and always enjoyed them. However, like Dennis Leanne, since Harvey started writing stand-alone crime fiction, he has really upped his game. He knows Boston, and so do we as he gives up intimate details of the dark lives of the characters who live there. His writing is clear and often poetic, just pitch-perfect.

[Lisa Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent thriller set in an Irish-American part of Boston where a shocking act of violence nearly derails a young man's hopes of escaping a grim future. Gritty, but not egregiously so. These are tough people often caught in corrosive relationships. Lots of twists and turns.

[Frank Haggerty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brighton is a great crime novel! Period! Harvey brings Boston alive with his outstanding story of family, friendship and redemption. A riveting thriller that is unputdownable! Highly recommend this fast paced read.