The Third Rail

Michael Kelly #3

by Michael Harvey

A Q&A with Michael Harvey

[image] Where did the idea for The Third Rail come from? You often use Chicago's history as a backdrop--what elements made it into The Third Rail?

Michael The L accident in The Third Rail is loosely based on an actual event. On February 4, 1977, four CTA cars came off the rails of Chicago’s L and crashed into the street at the corner of Lake and Wabash in Chicago’s Loop. Eleven people were killed and pictures of L trains hanging off the tracks were splashed across page one in newspapers across the country. The cause of the real accident was eventually determined to be operator error.

Part of the scenario played out in The Third Rail references a U.S. Government scenario called "Terror 2000." Is there such a thing?

Michael Terror 2000 was the name of an actual Pentagon report issued in 1993. The report was intended to be a real-life assessment of terrorism in the 21st century and, specifically, the threat terrorist organizations posed to the United States. Among the scenarios reportedly contemplated by the anthrax being released in a subway and commercial airliners being flown into government buildings and the World Trade Center.

We know all too much about the second scenario. The first one outlined in the report was pretty much as I described it in The Third Rail. Terrorists would secrete weaponized anthrax in a light bulb and screw the light bulb loosely into a socket along a subway line. The light bulb would then serve as a timing mechanism. As trains passed by, they would eventually loosen the bulb, causing it to fall, break and disperse the weaponized pathogen.

Terror 2000 was never released to the public because the government deemed the report too disturbing. I first read about it in 1994. I was a journalist in Chicago and remembered thinking, "Wow, this stuff could really happen..." Then I did a little more research and discovered how difficult it would be for a private individual to go through the process of actually “weaponizing” something like anthrax. That made me feel a little better... until I read just recently about the government’s largest bio-weapons research facility at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

In February of 2009, work at Fort Detrick was suspended due to concerns about the facility’s inventory of pathogen samples. Those samples include Class A pathogens such as anthrax, smallpox and Ebola. According to reports, the director of the lab ordered a complete accounting of the facility’s inventory and said there was a high probability there would be "discrepancies" uncovered. He also indicated the lab had only computerized their inventory control system in 2005. Prior to that, samples were signed in and out of the lab using pen and paper.

Two months after the inventory was conducted, the government announced they had discovered more than 9,000 unaccounted-for pathogen samples inside various lockers and freezers at Detrick. A criminal investigation was ordered. Government officials said there was no reason for the public to be alarmed.

Bottom line is when you put the subway scenario outlined in Terror 2000 together with what’s going on right now at Detrick, and then you throw in the prophetic nature of Terror 2000 vis a vis 9/11... it’s a little scary, and definitely cause for concern.

The Third Rail has some pretty disturbing and intense aspects--it's darker than the previous two Michael Kelly books. Any reason?

Michael I wanted the first half of The Third Rail to reflect the unsettled nature of an investigation involving a high-profile serial or spree killer. In the classic homicide investigation, an investigator finds a body, works the scene, interviews witnesses and begins the process of following up leads. He or she is the protagonist, driving the action forward, dictating the flow of events and causing the killer to react. In The Third Rail, however, the exact opposite is true. Kelly and the cops can never get ahead of the curve. They are dancing to the killer’s tune from page one--reacting to another crime scene even before they have finished processing the first, fielding phone calls from the killer and feeling the tightening vise of the media and the public as the body count grows. It is not until the second half of the book that Kelly finally gets a handle on the action and asserts his will over the course of events. In real life, the unsettled nature of this type of investigation raises the stakes tremendously for the men and women working the case and places a huge amount of stress on everyone involved. To some extent,...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Audiobook, Book Club

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

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

[Zornitsa Rasim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Най добрата до сега,остават ми още две 🙂,чудесен автор,който пише толкова вълнуващо и интересно,книгите се четат лесно,бързо,не са тежки,но държат в напрежение има действие постоянно. Главният герой ми стана един от любимците хаха.

[Metodi Markov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Серията продължава да е все така добра, а Кели отново е на ниво.

За съжаление, някои неща и той не е в състояние да промени или да поправи, оказа се само човек...

Историята е многопластова и не те оставя на мира, докато не отгърнеш и последната страница.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ex-Cop, now PI Michael Kelly finds himself in the hunt for a killer who does his thing on the el train in Chicago. It all has something to do with an train accident Kelly somehow survived years ago.

There's a couple of sections that generate tension, but really a pretty tepid book.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Третият роман за Майкъл Кели е още по-кървав от предните (Така го правят в Чикаго и Петият етаж). Чикаго осъмва под обсада, уловен в оптическия мерник на безмилостен снайперист. Сам или в комбина действа убиецът и как точно частното ченге е привлякло вниманието на зловещия кукловод на терора? Все въпроси, които ще ви накарат трескаво да прелиствате страниците. Сюжетът се завърта около стара катастрофа в градското метро, ситуирана през 1980 г., като от бележките на автора в края разбираме, че такава действително се е случила на 4 февруари 1977. Ясно е, че в жанровата територия на трилъра всичко вече е измислено, но това не ми пречи да се наслаждавам на тази книжна серия, а Майкъл Харви успешно използва целия набор от клишета, за да им даде собствена свежа трактовка.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You work alone. No, you don't work. You hunt. That's what you do. You hunt human beings who often hunt human beings themselves. You carry a gun and routinely use it. You have no backup, no safety net. I don't even know if you have health insurance. Worst of all, you like it (pp. 86-86)."

Michael Kelly's girlfriend sums up his life an a private investigator. It's not entirely fair, but it's pretty close to his reality. The third (of five, so far) Michael Kelly novels starts with sniper attacks on the CTA (subway/elevated) that are somehow rooted in Kelley's past, though the FBI don't see the connection. Except for one fed, who has Kelly run an operation off the grid, just as Chicago's mayor does, though the mayor wants Kelly to kill the shooter and be done with it. Kelly, aided by a cop friend and a young hacker, goes into action with a vengeance. He's an intelligent man, and just about fearless, at least with regard to his own life, but he has hostages in life and their lives come into play.

Harvey's plotting is complex and interesting, and his writing, strong to begin with, gets stronger with each book.

[CorLostForWords · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, and it is exceedingly well crafted. I found it quite gritty, edgy and true to Chicago's way of life. The book opens up with a brutal killing of a woman while she is waiting for a train. Incidentally, private investigator Michael Kelly is a witness to this despicable act and he is drawn into the case.
The tone is very dry, very straightforward, and very engaging. The characters are likeable, and certainly complex. The plot is also complex, and full of surprises. Several situations leave you wondering what will happen next. I found that this book is realistic and has connotations for today's world. It definitely gets you wondering if the scenario given in this book is plausible in today's society. Harvey pulls no punches with this book. I couldn't put it down!
I didn't realize that this was the third book in a series. I will definitely be reading the first two installments. I hope Harvey continues with Kelly's story as I want to find out what happens next.
All in all, an excellent book from an up-and-coming author. It is definitely a book to read, and Harvey is an author to watch.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skipped the second book in the Michael Kelly series as it was not available to me in kindle format. Having thought the first was stylized as noir and expecting the following books would continue in that vein, I was certainly corrected within the first few pages. This is a very readable private investigator book filled with action as well as Michael's ability to decipher misleading information. Chicago's CTA, the Archdiocese and the mayor all play roles in this gripping tale.

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3). I have been having a great time exploring the Michael Kelly series from the beginning. A savvy former cop, now P.I., it is a tried and true formula in the right hands. Harvey makes it work. Lots of action, a fair amount of violence, personal angst and guilt galore, interesting characters, unusual bad guys and a side car or two that work as well. I really like how he has developed the character of the Mayor. I will be on to #4 in the series at some point. Good stuff.

[Валентин Попов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много ми допадна. Забързан трилър със сериозно ченге (Майкъл Кели), отмъстителен убиец и тайна, която ще се разкрие чак на края. Препоръчвам!

[Michelle Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Harvey, Author
The Third Rail
Alfred E. Knopf Press, ISBN 978-0-307-27250-8
Fiction-crime, drama, thriller, murder, mystery
285 pages
May/June 2010 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Michael Harvey, author of “The Third Rail” is a esteemed journalist and producer of documentaries. (insert, 2010) He has authored two previous books, “The Chicago Way” and “The Fifth Floor”. (back pages of “The Third Rail”, 2010) Awards and acclaim for Mr. Harvey’s work range from international and national awards to several Emmys’s to Academy nominations. He is a graduate of Duke Law School with a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and undergrad in classical languages from Holy Cross College. For more information about this incredibly interesting author please log on to his web site at www.michaelharveybooks.com.

I’ve not had the pleasure, yet anyway, of reading the other two books by Michael Harvey, but there is one character that is a common thread in them. His name is Michael Kelly. Mr. Kelly was a cop and is now a PI. In “The Third Rail” Mr. Kelly gets sucked into a high profile case involving a series of shootings on an L train and in other strange places in the greater Chicago land area that appear somewhat planned, yet random. The suspected killer in these crimes even has the audacity to call Mr. Kelly on his cell phone and gloat over his recent killings.

As the police endeavor to find out more about this complex case Mr. Kelly figures more and more prominently in the mix. Eventually this case is kicked up from the local Chicago Police to the FBI because it has some similar traits to an unsolved case regarding some missing biological/chemical warfare and a weird connection to another L train wreck, both decades old. [If you want to know how this is all connected then you’ve got to read the book.:] Mr. Kelly gets curious, does some snooping, and finds out that story about the chemical/biological warfare was covered up, mostly forgotten, and nobody intended it to ever resurface. At least that was the plan…

I love mysteries and crime stories, especially those that take place in settings I am familiar with. I am an Illinois girl with lots of friends and family in and around the Chicago area. Mr. Harvey’s words on the pages made me feel the city and its sometimes unforgivable weather, taste the grit that is part and parcel of city life, and experience the ride along the way. The characters were wonderfully thought out and complex. The story believable, not at all contrived. He [Michael Harvey:] has a very keen insight into the personalities of the Feds and the local police as well as the criminal mind. “The Third Rail” was a spellbinding read. I was so absorbed that I read this book in two short days because I, literally, could not put it down! I would definitely suggest you add this to your must read list!

[Toni Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book # 3, in Michael Kelly, PI series

Thrillers are all about fast-paced plots and a hero that faces impossible situations and somehow get himself/herself out just in the nick of time. Definitely Michael Harvey has patted down this formula to a tee and is exploring it to the max. In the previous novels some historical incident were the bases for the plot, “The Third Rail” is no deferent, the story in the 3rd book relates to an accident which happened in 1977 when a four cars on E1 derailed and plunged to the street killing 11 persons. In this mystery Kelly was on board, his father was the conductor….fast forward to today, Kelly is drawn into a deadly cat- and mouse game when one morning while he was waiting for a CTA commuter train a man shoots and kills a woman near him….this is déjà vu all over…..and the start of random killings…and a PI on the chase.

This story is pure adrenaline rush as its peels its mystery one page at a time in a tone that is tough reflecting the protagonist rough side. The author deftly alternates between Kelly’s first-person perspective and third-person accounts of the men Kelly seeks. The many intersecting plot threads in this convoluted tale need our full attention although they do come together by the end, you will miss out if your attention wavers just a bit. This book is an engaging and a pretty good action thriller featuring tough, cynical characters in a bleak setting and is one hard to put down.

[Albert Riehle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Third Rail is...okay. The lead character is strong enough to lead the story, but hardly a memorable character. Knowing that two previous books exist with him in the lead role won't have me running out to the book store to pick them up.

The plot is...okay. There's a twist and the transition to it is handled a bit awkwardly. Part of you thinks the book is over. Part of you understand that it isn't. That second part of you wonders WHY it isn't and after the conclusion you'll still wonder why? Why was it necessary? Why was it done? Why?

But...the pages turn, the narrative is solid the character isn't too overbearing and you can find much worse on the bookshelves so I'm not recommending you steer clear of it, just don't put it on the top of your To Read list.

[H (no longer expecting notifications) Balikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ex-Chicago policeman, now P.I., with issues of emotional distancing.
A terrorist picking people off of the City's public transportation.
A lot of gritty and accurate neighborhood atmosphere.
Plenty of spot-on Chicago politics.
Some very interesting characters.

A quick and enjoyable read, even if some of the issues apparently carry-over into the next novel.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of a series, "The Third Rail" was the stronger of a very solid lot of three. The shift in narrators--a new stylistic technique for Harvey--helps build suspense. It's clear that friends of Michael Kelly do not fair well. Who in the cast of characters will be around in a fourth novel?

[Elderberrywine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Third Rail is the last of a trilogy of gritty Chicago mysteries featuring ex-cop and current PI Michael Kelly. The first, The Chicago Way, focused on the police department. The second, The Fifth Floor, expanded to the mayor’s office, and this last installment reached the last of the triumvirate that governs Chicago politics.

But let’s start with the plot. Random women, riding the public transportation system, are being assassinated. Many of the large U.S. cities were, in the 1990s, often a dangerous place in which to live. (That’s why they are so much better now, no matter who might wish you to believe otherwise.) But that’s just to get your attention, and to distract. Something much bigger is in the works than a random serial killer. But let’s set the scene first. 1995 - the sarin attacks on the Tokyo subway. 13 dead, 5800 injured. Also in this time frame, sexual abuse cases within the Catholic church were beginning to break open in Chicago as elsewhere (such as shown in the movie Spotlight, occurring at the same time in Boston). And here, as elsewhere, sexual predators were being shuffled around rather than being reported. Let’s just say Chicago’s mayor has realized that a little leverage over these guys wouldn’t go amiss, and he is more than pleased for Kelly to pass some info down his way.

Kelly has a personal interest in this, on behalf of his girlfriend, and is invested in taking at least some of the perpetrators down. But sometimes the web is just too large, and you just gotta do as much as you can. All in all, a heady brew. Gonna miss this town.

[Tom Carrico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two for the Beach

My definition of a good vacation read includes the following: The book should be entertaining. There should be a believable plot, hopefully with a wicked twist at the end. The characters should be interesting. The book should last long enough to make it worth the effort, but it should be able to be consumed in several generous helpings (like two or three afternoons under a beach umbrella). If there is good writing which makes all of this happen, all the better. Here are two which I think fit my definition quite well.

The Fifth Witness
By Michael Connelly

The Fifth Witness is the fourth installment of Michael Connelly’s series about Michael “Mickey” Haller, first introduced in The Lincoln Lawyer. If you’ve read that book (or seen the movie which is terrific, by the way) you know Mickey is a bottom feeder. His clients include bikers, gang members and other assorted low-lifes. Mickey has used the home foreclosure crisis in California to enhance his practice. He has taken out ads all over town, including on the sides of buses. His business is booming. He feels like a knight in shining armor for once, defending the common man against the greedy bankers and mortgage brokers. One of Michael’s clients is a diminutive single Mom named Lisa Trammel who has used social media to organize other foreclosure victims. She stages protests outside of banks and has become such a nuisance that her own bank has taken out a restraining order, keeping her away from their properties. When Lisa’s mortgage banker is murdered in the bank’s parking deck, she becomes the prime suspect. The police investigation quickly zeros in on Lisa, she is arrested for first degree murder and Mickey suddenly becomes a defense attorney once again.

The evidence against Lisa, although mostly circumstantial, is quite convincing. Mickey builds a defense around discrediting the state’s evidence and postulating a different killer. Michael’s new investigator (his first one was killed in The Lincoln Lawyer) digs into the victim’s life and finds that he was heavily in debt himself. The banker had leveraged himself with loans from a shady mortgage broker with mob connections. When this broker is brought in as a witness Mickey asks a line of questions which would expose his organized crime activity and the broker is forced to plead “The Fifth”. Could this man have ordered a “hit” on the victim because of outstanding debt? You bet. Mickey’s other ploy to create doubt in the jury’s minds is to bring in a forensic expert who testifies that Lisa, who stands 5 foot 3 inches, could not have struck the victim (who was well over six feet tall) on the top of his head where the fatal blows landed.

The final half of the book is consumed with legal bickering and arguments over the admissibility of evidence and the relevance of certain witnesses and lines of questioning. It is somewhat “Grisham-esque” in its legal detail. It is worth the effort to get to what is a startling and dramatic turn of events at the conclusion. Mickey (as expertly played in the movie by Matthew McConaughey) is at his best when he’s the underdog and fighting for a losing cause. This is a battle between a prosecutor who has what she thinks is a slam dunk conviction and a defense attorney who uses every trick in the book, occasionally bending the rules until they almost break. Mickey Haller makes sure that justice is served in The Fifth Witness. You’ll have to read the book all of the way to the final page to find out exactly how he does it.


The Third Rail
By Michael Harvey

Michael Harvey has a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Languages from Holy Cross and a law degree from Duke. He is a television and documentary producer and has won several Emmy Awards for that work. This is his third crime novel, the first of which was The Chicago Way. The main character in these books is Michael Kelly, a former Chicago detective who is now a private investigator.

Kelly is waiting for a subway on an elevated platform when he witnesses a seemingly random murder. He chases the shooter but loses him in an alley. Later that day the same perpetrator kills another random victim on the subway and poisons Holy Water in a Roman Catholic Church. Forensic evidence links the crimes and suddenly the police and F.B.I. have a serial killer case on their hands. Homeland Security becomes involved because of the possibility of this being a terrorist attack. Michael Kelly is drawn into the investigation team because he was an eye witness to the first crime in the spree.

Michael doesn’t trust the F.B.I. agent in charge of the team and conducts his own independent investigation using a computer expert and another former police officer as allies. The computer expert uses internet search engines and some creative hacking to discover clues as to the motives for the crimes and possible suspects. The site of the second subway shooting is actually in the identical location of a 1970s accident caused by faulty train brakes. The company responsible for the production of the faulty equipment was never brought to justice and Michael and his team work around the theme of these killings being some sort of revenge acts. In a seemingly unrelated way it is revealed that Michael was a passenger on one of the trains involved in the old accident and Michael’s father was the train’s conductor.

Michael’s girlfriend, a respected judge, is abducted by the serial killer and video tapes of her reading an ultimatum are delivered to Michael. He then realizes that this is something personal directly related to him. Could this be somehow related to the old train accident? Michael has to search his childhood memory as well as the old case files from the accident investigation to cull clues as to the killer’s identity.

The plot is a bit convoluted but, somehow, it works. The reader is taken down several false paths but eventually the whole story comes together with an unlikely resolution. It’s not quite as unanticipated as the ending to The Fifth Witness, but it is close. The characters in this book are well developed and the back stories are revealed in just enough detail at exactly the right times. There is a lot more gratuitous violence in The Third Rail than there is in The Fifth Witness.

If legal thrillers are more to your liking, read The Fifth Witness. If you like more of a police procedural with some gore mixed in read The Third Rail. If you’ve got a week off, what the heck, read them both!

[Lee McKerracher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I breezed through this in one day. I am not normally a fan of the crime / private investigator genre but as this novel was located in my favourite US city of Chicago I would I would give it a try.

Right from the first page, Michael Harvey draws you in to a series of events that are raising alarm across the city. There's a shooter on the lose, a mustard gas attack on a church and (what the key protagonist does not know) a threatening biochemical attack.

It all sounds a little overwhelming, but the plot line moves along fast and in a sequence that keeps the reader engaged and 'in the loop'. The main character, a rough diamond by the name of Michael Kelly, is a seasoned police officer turned PI who is dating a judge. Kelly has the tried and true love/hate relationship with his old partner Rodriguez and then there is their relationship with the ambitious female FBI agent who is keen to get a win and show the boys she is up to the job.

While this may sound a little pedestrian and following a familiar crime plot development, Harvey introduces many twists and turns, most of which you do not see coming and this keeps you tuned in to the book.

How does it all end - you will have to read it to find out. A great afternoon read.

[Mark Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Third Rail, by Michael Harvey, 2010. This is the third in Harvey’s Michael Kelly mysteries, and it’s good. The dialogue is sharp and has depth – at times it feels as though you can hear or sense the words not said within the words spoken out loud. There is pain in Harvey’s books, both physical and psychological, and they are integral to the story. That’s real.

Harvey writes well, the story moves well, and Kelly keeps hunting (as one of the characters in the book describes him). And as a born and raised Chicagoan (though not living there now), the movement through Chicago’s neighborhoods, taverns, alleys, and places of power rings pretty true. (Although, he seems to think the SouthSide Irish have a lot of Bibles prominently displayed in their homes, which really isn’t true.)

I just finished The Third Rail last night, and I realized this morning that at the end of all three of Harvey’s books I’ve read, there is a strong sense of loss, more than there is of triumph or even closure. The specific story closes, but all else remains – greed and revenge and sickness endlessly at work churning up more of the same. Kelly in some sense may be the Everyman, making his way through a dark world – but he packs a hell of a punch. And I gotta admit, that’s the fun part.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another nice effort by Michael Harvey - this his book 3 of 5 in the series on Michael Kelly private investigator. This tale once again ties in the Mayor's office and many from the Chicago police department ... even including the FBI and DHS this time. The murder and mayhem is nicely described, and certainly keeps one turning the pages. As in his other books in the series, the author once again ties in many scenes to commonplace/contemporary Chicago locations. The whole story for that matter is constructed around an actual event from Chicago history. I like the series and I like the main character (PI Michael Kelly), and I will finish the 5 books. We'll see if he can sustain the energy. Three stars, buts still worth the read.

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bookclub I’m in selected the second book (Fifth Floor) and before reading it I learned it was 2nd in a series, so I read The Chicago Way first. Several of the issues and questions our bookclub had were solved in the first book so I recommended they read it. Not so with The Third Rail. It stood alone quite well. I liked the way Mr Harvey developed the story, however I was mystified by being introduced to the bad guy(s) in the first chapter. As a departure from the style of the first two novels where we go along with Kelly to discover the bad guy(s), in this story we know the bad guys and the novel takes us to learning when and how Kelly learns and ever he does about it. I’m not sure I liked this storytelling method better, so 4 vs 5 stars.

[Kirsten Tautfest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started reading this 8 school years ago based on the bookmark inside of it. Don't know why I stopped. Started it over and man what a ride.

I did find the back and forth voice between first person and third person a bit jarring but at least it was broken up by chapters. It's a style choice and it has been so long since I have read Harvey's first two in the Kelly series that I can't recall if he used it before.

[Jim Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this over a week long vacation (mostly the plane flights), but it was partly because once I really got into it I couldn't really stop. I haven't read any of the other books in this series but I didn't need to in order to enjoy the story. This had a good combination of excitement, and mystery. This is a book where the main character doesn't always make all the right choices which makes him more human. I will probably read more of this series to see if the rest are just as enjoyable.

[catechism · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars? I really dislike any time an author decides to take us inside the villain's head and that head is full of mustache-twirling 'I'm so evil isn't it just so very shocking' bullshit. Overall I liked the story (sniper on the CTA, a grudge, a Church coverup) but Harvey's overadherence to noir tropes is less likeable. There's a lot of violence against women so Kelly can grow as a man, and if Kelly is working the case with an attractive woman? Guess what, she's no good.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has changed since the first book, from a noir type of plot to an extremely contemporary one. That’s OK, because Michael Harvey appears to be at home with either approach. In The Third Rail, Michael Kelly, an ex-cop turned PI, has his fingers in all sorts of threats to the city of Chicago. (The reader can rightfully wonder how Kelly finds time for eating and sleeping). Every time you think this book is finished, it isnt, and when it is, you’ll wish it wasnt.

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is not complicated; it is convoluted. The storyline, at points, is ridiculous. In one scene, two boys try to rape a woman. Where did this come from and how does this advance the story? It just seems to be thrown in. And then there's the finale... but wait, there's more. The "end" went on and on!

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Place and exact locale description minutia are excellent. Accurate.

Almost all else is grit and pulp fiction. Not a fan and some of it was quite offensive and gratuitous of far fetched stereotypes. Ugly messes all around for the most part.

I won't read any more Harvey. Too low life in language but more so in brutality as fun. Ugh!

[Stuart Davison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this in a free little library near my Chicago apartment. I wasn't aware it was book three of a series until a few chapters in, but the author re-introduces all the characters and plotlines, so I wasn't lost. An easy, fun read -- and as a new Chicagoan, the book introduced me to some local history.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

another amazing piece of work by Harvey... i don't know Chicago but he makes me feel like i kinda do now... all the usual adjectives for a crime novel fit here, in spades... no spare words, a clean writing style, and a superb anti-hero...

[Verdonna Otey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found the characters the typical hard nosed police officers and detectives you expect in a good crime thriller. Good story line with a lot of interesting turns and twist. You fine yourself trying to solve what the next step will be along with the detective.

[Elizabeth Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Michael Harvey's mysteries set in Chicago. This one encompasses corruption in the Catholic church along with seemingly random murders along the El lines. The mystery is why PI Michael Kelly is brought into the story.