Brighton

A Novel

By: Michael Harvey

Narrated by: Stephen Mendel

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 had just committed heinous 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 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-six 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. Suddenly, 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 face 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.

Brighton

I loved the book, of course I'm sure it helped that I was born and raised in Brighton. I could identify all the places he referred to like tar park , chandlers pond it was like a trip down memory lane for me

Mystery gets no better.

When I read the description of this novel I was intrigued to say the least. You see I spent the 70's and early 80 in Brighton, a neighborhood of Boston. Brighton was predominantly Irish and Italian back then with a fierce sense of neighborhood and ethnic identity. You never said you were from Boston, no, you said you were from Brighton, or Southie or the North End. Boston is like that, then and now. So when I saw this novel I well I know I was going get it. You see I was there wasn't I.

Michael Harvey captures the place, the time and the people perfectly. Listening to the novel I was transported back across the miles and the years. Harvey captures it all. It's a first rate murder mystery wrapped in a coming of age. The characters are richly drawn. I know, I knew some of them in other bodies with other names.

Do get this book. A "wicked pissa" good book as they used to say back in Brighton. A good mystery is rare. A novel that captures the past and presents it so deftly equally rare.

Buy the book and take the ride. And say a prayer for two kids names Billy and Kevin and all the ones just like them.

Boston Noir

This reads like Michael Harvey channeling Dennis Lehane. Their discriptions of the "low end" of Boston are remarkably similar. Very dark; every family seems dysfuntional, secrets abound, and violence is commonplace. I have to comment on the narrator; he is fine with the story, but can not read female dialogue convincingly.

Excellent

This is a great murder mystery/thriller! A mix of Dennis Lehane and Stephen King!!

Interesting twists

Book had a lot of twists to keep you guessing.
Enjoyed listening to. Well developed characters