The Charlestown Connection: A Dermot Sparhawk Thriller (1)

by Tom MacDonald

Dermot Sparhawk, a former All American Boston College football hero, is stacking cans in a parish food pantry in Boston's Charlestown, when his godfather, Jeepster Hennessey, shows up with a knife in his back and dies at Dermot's feet. Once slated for a professional football career, now a recovering alcoholic, with a torn-up knee, Dermot sets out to solve the murder of his godfather with the help of his Micmac Indian cousin, his paraplegic tenant, and a former teammate. Dermot's investigation has him tangling with members of the IRA, FBI, and the Boston mob. He also is forced to contend with Charlestown's code of silence and the norms of the neighborhood where he grew up. Feeling like he did at the height of his game, Dermot uses his Native American intuition and Irish good looks to help him uncover clues. Dermot stumbles upon bits and pieces of information that he cobbles together into an unlikely theory which leads him on an unexpected trail and to a new mystery that could cost him his life.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Detective, Crime, Thriller

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

Tom MacDonald has Boston in his blood. Born in Dorchester and raised in Braintree, Massachusetts, he now works in Charlestown for St. MarySt. Catherine of Siena Parish as Director of Social Ministries.

MacDonald attended Stonehill College, earning a B.A. in Sociology. Fifteen years into a career as a computer programmer, he went back to school and received a Masters in Business Administration from Boston Colleges Carroll School of Management. There he learned that he had the talent to write which he later pursued at the University of Southern Maines Stonecoast MFA program in creative writing, completing a Masters of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in fiction.

Tom's writing has been influenced by his work in the Catholic church, serving the largest federal housing project in New England, Charlestowns Bunker Hill Housing Development. Tom's main goal in storytelling is to depict urban life in a believable yet interesting way, keeping clear of clichs and stereotypes. To accomplish this, he focuses on street dialogue, value systems and norms, reactions to the events of daily life, and the things left unsaid. His hope is that an image of inner city-living, shown through an un-tinted lens, renders a story worth reading.

He currently resides in Braintree, Massachusetts with his wife Maribeth. "

Reviews

[L.T. Fawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom McDonald $9.99 ****

On the day Dermot Sparhawk, a Micmac Indian born on the tough streets of Boston, gets his 30 day medal from AA, his godfather, having been stabbed in the back, stumbles into the food bank, mumbles a few mysterious words, and dies.

I liked the character Dermot a lot. Lots of detail about the tough parts of Boston, interesting characters, gritty dialog, good plot. I read it straight through.

[Mary Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this on my bookshelf for a long time. It kept getting hidden by new purchases. I had known the author’s mother and father and am so happy that I made the time to finally read it Tom’s first novel. Kept my interest at every turn of the page.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our unlikely hero is from the projects in Boston's Charlestown. He is a permanently sidelined All-American Boston College Football hero, due to a mangled knee, and a recovering alcoholic. He runs the food pantry for Saint Jude Thaddeus Church. A pretty low-key guy, Dermot Sparhawk is a survivor of his past.

His evening shift is shockingly interrupted by pounding on the door, then his godfather Jeepster stumbling across the room and into his arms. Jeepster is a Viet-Nam veteran and best friend of Dermot's father, also a Viet-Nam vet, both men were marines. Jeepster has spent most of the intervening years in prison. While trying to hold Jeepster up, he is told to "take it" meaning the key he held. Unable to carry on, he gasps "it opens..." then collapses, at which time Dermot sees a deeply imbedded knife in his back. With his last gasp, Jeepster breathes "Oswego" and dies. The only clue Dermot has is the word McSweeney on the key and Oswego, which means nothing to him. Author Tom MacDonald knows how to catch our interest.

As if this weren't enough, Dermot starts getting callers, mostly Irish, trying to find out what Dermot knows. In the meantime, Dermot is anxious to get to the bottom of who killed his godfather. What is going on? What do all these people want? How could Jeepster have anything of value anywhere? There is so much action in this book, so many threats, so few clues none of which make any sense. And what does the art world have to do with anything at all? Everyone seems to be owed big money, but from what? Throughout the journey the reader will venture into rough places and high class places looking for a sign, a clue, and what the words McSweeney and Oswego have in common.

A little-known concept of coding becomes a turning point, but not very easily. Not all people are who Dermot thinks they are, nor are they all after the same thing in the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed following Dermot through his journey of discovery, his integrity, and with the help of friends, how the code gets broken. Still there is a lot more to this and I encourage the reader to enjoy this fascinating trip to learn the full story. An exciting, action-packed mystery evolves over what happened in the food pantry.

This is a very interesting book, well-written and well-worth reading. I found myself captivated by what would happen next, who else may get killed, what will happen about the money owed, and the humour of the situation some of the characters find themselves in. Great job! I will be interested in reading other books by Tom MacDonald.

[Barbara Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a signed copy of this book from LibraryThing. It's set, of course, in Charlestown/Boston, Massachusetts. I seem to be in a Boston frame of mind and these books set there are making me want to go for a visit. I hadn't heard of Tom MacDonald before but I'm certainly glad I received this novel. He's a good old-fashioned storyteller in my eyes.

The best part of this story is the characters, especially the protagonist, Dermot Sparhawk who is half Micmac Indian and half Irish. He is a recovering alcoholic thanks to AA and a strength of character he apparently hadn't realized he had. The story begins when his godfather, Jeepster Hennessey stumbles into the food pantry Dermot runs and dies at Dermot's feet. He mumbles a few words as he is dying from stab wounds. The words don't make any sense to Dermot, nor do the keys his godfather presses into his hand.

Dermot owns a house and lives on the second floor while his Boston College football friend Buck who is a paraplegic lives on the first floor. His Uncle Glooscap's son Harraseeket Kid lives in the basement. The three of them team up to solve the puzzle and find themselves in danger from several fronts. It all seems to have something to do with valuable paintings. There is also an attractive FBI agent involved, but is she who she claims to be?

This is a great story with characters who are so well depicted you'll remember them for a long time, particularly Dermot. He has a good heart but he's a realist; he is handsome but has a bad knee that kept him out of pro football and is only just maintaining his sobriety. You'll cheer for him throughout the book. Personally, I hadn't heard anything about Micmac Indians since we moved out of Maine.

I highly recommend The Charlestown Connection. It doesn't matter if you know Boston or not, MacDonald makes the scene come alive for you.

[Darcia Helle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Charlestown Connection has an intricate, well-developed plot with multiple layers to keep a reader involved. Being from the Boston area, I enjoyed the city references. Tom MacDonald does a great job of capturing the feel of certain Boston areas and cultures.

While the plot entertains, for me, this one lacks character development. The story has a lot of characters, most introduced quickly with little explanation. The relationships felt superficial, since I knew next to nothing about most of them. Even Dermot, the main character, felt more like a pawn being used to play out a role than a 'person' living through a chaotic and difficult period in his life. I didn't feel the connection to the characters necessary for me to truly get lost in a story.

** I received this ebook as an early review copy from Oceanview Publishing, through NetGalley. **

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hidden gem!

I downloaded this book to my Kindle Fire quite some time ago. Completely forgot about it. Then recently I saw an add for the most recent book on the series, and realized I had the first nook. Well... it turned out to be quite the " hidden Jem" What an amazingly good book! What a character in Dermot Sparhawk! What a stunning story! I love finding hidden treasure. And that's what this book was for me...hidden treasure.

[CW Crollard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A murder, an art museum heist, a bunch of Boston characters, involved in a thrilling story.

Dermot Sparhawk, a clever con man, roped me in immediately. The most daring and expensive robbery of a world famous art museum.

[ross perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read

A fast moving story with great characters and an ingenious story line about a famous Boston area heist. Well done Tom!

[Maribeth MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story from start to finish. Interesting characters and a compelling story with a surprising twist. Author knows Boston and reminds me of Dennis Lehane novels.

[Robert Carraher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Equal parts whodunit, murder mystery and caper novel, with a dash of conspiracy thriller elements, a la The Da Vinci Code. But that's where any equality ends. The Charlestown Connection goes beyond all of those to reach new heights in crime fiction. And this is a debut novel? Tom MacDonald, where have you been hiding?

Imagine debuting in the major leagues by pitching to Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Jimmie Foxx, sticking with the Boston theme. Now, imagine you struck out the side on nine pitches. That's what Tom MacDonald has done by choosing to walk the hallowed grounds of Boston's Charlestown neighborhood, the turf of such super stars as Robert B. Parker, Dennis Lehane and Chuck Hogan, you fellas can move over and make room at the top, because Tom MacDonald deserves a seat. I'm not sure I have ever read a better debut novel. Mr. MacDonald set the bar high, then cleared it in Superman fashion.

This book just jumped the turn stiles to move to the front of the line for best crime fiction of the year. Both hardboiled and noir, without using the usual clichés. It achieves a hardboiled "feel" through setting, an edginess, a sense of realness and the development of the characters. It gets it's "noir-ness" not through the usual morally bankrupt cast of characters (indeed, even the bad guys have a certain shady attractiveness) nor through the commission of evermore despicable and lewd crimes until the protagonist is so irredeemable that the devil considers retirement. No, it gets that feeling of noir through a certain sense of stoicism by the main players, a sense of darkness in the setting inside one of America's largest public housing neighborhoods and in Charlestown's colorful, troubled, and criminal past as well as the mix of cultures.

Where most hardboiled fiction is dialog driven , "Charlestown" has full grown characters and is more developed through the internal dialog, and observations of the protagonist, than on snappy one liners and tougher than tough tough guys. Although some of the life situations of the main characters will be familiar i.e. a recovering alcoholic hero, a paraplegic side kick, they are either not over done or are used in such an original and fresh way as to avoid any thoughts of cliché. And where noir tends to have a reliance on dark, brooding themes, a certain decay in the souls of the characters and a reliance on sex and sexual themes, or at the very least degenerate crimes and sins to drive the plot, this novel achieves that familiar sense of darkness without resorting to sensationalism, melodrama or gothic language.

From the opening paragraph, one of the best I have read in awhile, MacDonald establishes his debt to the greats of both those genre, while resolutely pointing the way towards the future and where, with a bit of artistry and a masters creativity, the genres can go.

The plot twists and red herring abound, but even the most experienced and adept at figuring out the puzzle, will be surprised, yet all the clues are there.

Employing all of the best elements from multiple branches of the crime fiction/thriller family tree against a historical backdrop of Charlestown and one of the most daring true crimes ever perpetrated, in addition to craftsmanship not usually found in a first time author, MacDonald has carved out a spot for himself at the very top. He is not an up and coming author, he arrived in style. Get used to seeing his name, because this author is going to be around for a long, long time.

The Dirty Lowdown

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Large and well-spaced typesetting help pace a reader’s sprint through this novel that begins with a seemingly random murder in a derelict area of Boston and dashes through criminal underworlds to solve the murder and a 20-year-old museum heist.

The first several pages contain a superfluity of commas that could make a reader woozy. Technically, however, this interior device can aid in a psychological description of a 30-day wonder’s mental capacity. Unfortunately, Dermot Sparhawk, a newly chaired member of Alcoholics Anonymous, is astonishingly clear-headed, displaying little white-knuckle anxiety or pink-cloud euphoria throughout the story. That’s amazing serenity for a newbie who purportedly was a rampaging, blackout drunk one month ago.

The murder victim, Jeepster Hennessey (top-shelf cognac for high-bottom drunks), is touted as Sparhawk’s godfather; but their spiritual relationship isn’t clearly detailed. Jeepster is cast as Sparhawk’s father’s best war buddy, not Sparhawk’s baptismal guardian. This suggests that Jeepster serves allegorically to a Mario Puzo definition. Nice touch.

There’s an enormous cast of characters here. We almost need a playbill to keep them fresh—or maybe a score card similar to the Red Sox games periodically scattered in the story. Sparhawk seeks anonymity and justice as he runs into members of the Boston PD, the Irish Mob, Homeland Security, the FBI, the IRA and Somali terrorists, a mysterious prison literary society, as well as purveyors in forged art, and native South Boston bigots. I’ve never understood the Southie prejudice in Boston and this book doesn’t explain why, only that it exists. Sparhawk seems immune to Townie intolerance. With an Irish mother and a Canadian Indian father, he is denigrated only once as “half breed” by one character (cabby, page 103).

The novel will be more appealing to a mature audience or at least to trivia buffs. Otherwise remarks about John Updike, Warren Spahn, Joe Namath, or Allen Funt might be baffling. Plus, the book’s title should suggest some parody of the plot in The French Connection for anyone who has read that novel.

A splash of local color usually adds a smidgeon of charm in any writing, but this book has a tsunami of Bean Town geography. A non-resident visitor needs a city plat on the cover pages or an inserted map to judge the significance of each locale’s importance. Furthermore, a speed-reader may need to slow down to scamper through the textbook explanations on paintings, the processes in art forgery, and the Homovocalism code. Nevertheless, an apprentice thug might gobble up the descriptions of the levels of IRA punishment in criminal deterrence.

The book is a refreshing, fast-paced serving for any beach reader’s kit. Well done, Tom MacDonald—a good Scotsman—not McDonald for the Boston Irish (see page 6 for that explanation).

[Beth Bedee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting version of a crime novel. Typically, they involve a cop. lawyer, or a P.I. Dermot Sparhawk is just a regular guy trying to solve a mystery that literally landed at his feet when his godfather staggers into his office with a knife in his back. Other than that initial murder, the crime here is not violent. Dermot spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out his godfather's last words.

The author is from Boston and that is evident. I love Boston literature when written by a native. You can't get that sort of authenticity from an outsider. The city and its neighborhoods come to life. I got a clear sense of the area of Charlestown from his descriptions.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT:
I would liked to have had more character development with Dermot. He is an alcoholic whose been sober a month when the novel begins. He was a Boston College football player, but a knee injury kept him from the pro's. Both his parents were alcoholics. He seems to have many reasons for drinking. I find it interesting that while tempted, he does not take a drink in the novel. He attends AA and has close ties with a parish priest, which most likely keeps him sober. But at the beginning of the novel, I thought for sure he'd fall off the wagon. Who knows, maybe that's another story.

I liked the character and his voice and attitude. I'd like to know more about him and what makes him tick. I actually would very much like to see him as a recurring character in another book.

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book! Art theft, beautiful women, a great neighbourhood (Boston's Charlestown district), a wonderful, larger than life hero in Dermot Sparhawk, great second characters, and a cracking good storyline. This is a first book by this author and I was priviiged to be given the opportunity to review it. I couldn't put the book down from the moment that I picked it up. Sparhawk is a great protagonist, and a wonderful character. Part Micmac Indian and part Irish. A big guy who finds himself on the right side of the bottle finally after many years of addiction. He works in a charity food pantry in his beloved neighbourhood of Charlestown, Boston. One night, while working late at the pantry, Dermot gets a knock on the door, and when he opens it, in falls his Godfather Jeepster Hennessey with a knife in his back. With a few dying words and a mysterious key, Jeepster dies in Dermot's arms. And he sends Dermot on a whirlwind journey trying to find out who killed his Godfather and why, whilst dodging bad guys all over the place. This book is full of many surprising twists and top drawer suspense. What a tout-de-force for an author with his first book. Tom MacDonald even borrows from a real-life mystery and uses this to weave his mesmerizing story. Unforgettable. I highly recommend it.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dermot Sparhawk, recovering alcoholic, football player with a blown knee, son of an alcoholic and wannabe detective is in a tight spot. His godfather, stabbed in the back; died in front of him. Dermot and his crew of boarders (Buck in a wheelchair and Harraqskeet Kid the mechanic) set out to find out why.
They may be in over their heads as Dermot is visited by several individuals all wanting to know what Jeepster Hennessey’s last words were. Did he give Dermot anything? Inquiring minds with guns want to know. Yes, he did as a matter of fact – but it’s no one’s business but Dermot’s at the moment.
Seeking answers takes him to Boston’s richest, poorest, finest, the IRA, the Mob and to the MicMac’s up north. It leads him to get a Malamute for Buck because whoever needs to know what Dermot knows doesn’t play fair. It leads him to Church, the Gardner Museum and places no one would want to travel.
Tom MacDonald has a true gem in the Charlestown Connection. If you like Boston, or just a great mystery, this is the book for you! The characters are most believable, the footprint of Boston most accurate and you are in for a most enjoyable tale which has an ending you won’t suspect at all. I hope we can hear more from Dermot and friends, they’re great!

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give the plot about 4.5 stars, and the writing about 3.5 - I particularly like some of the dialog. The treatment of female characters, however, bumps the book down to 3 stars.

In particular (spoilers) the FBI agent (who is OF COURSE gorgeous) sleeping with our protagonist feels so obligatory that it's bizarre. There's no chemistry and no real lead-up. She comes over to his place one evening to have a talk that they could easily have had over the phone or in a neutral environment, he invites her to stay for a movie, and she, for no reason that I can comprehend, agrees. Then she snuggles up to him on the couch, and he sticks a hand under her shirt, then leads her to the bedroom. All that happens in one incredibly unsexy paragraph. Later, the protagonist acts all smug. He even smugly alludes to their sexcapades in front of the FBI agent's coworkers. SUPER CLASSY, guy.

None of the major good characters comes across as a horrible creepy misogynist or anything, but I just don't like their attitudes toward women. So boo to that. Also, for a recovering alcoholic, our protagonist sure does like to buy drinks for other people who are already falling-down drunk. What's that about?

Great plot, though. I was impressed.

[Cyberiasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Charlestown Connection
By Tom MacDonald
Oceanview Publishing

Review by Cyberiasha.com


The Charlestown Connection is fantastic!!!! You get mystery, suspense, and plot twists that will keep you on your toes. Dermot Sparhawk is a great character, a recovering alcoholic; the story follows Dermot after a horrific crime and delves deep into the heart of Charlestown and Boston’s underbelly. The intrigue is high and the pacing is steady bringing you face to face with one of the best kept secrets in the art world.

Dermot is a recovering alcoholic re-learning his way after being on the wagon only a short time. Dermot works in a food kitchen run by the church. He is surly and comical at times, but in many respects he has a hard time connecting with the world around him. He prefers to isolate himself rather than participate, so when a close friend is murdered it rocks him to the core and propels him on a journey seeking justice, but what he finds is so much more.

I hate to give away all of the working parts of the story but I promise that you will enjoy the read. I am giving it 4 out of 4 stars.

www.cyberiasha.com

[Sgtret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I hear an author interviewed on NPR, I, with few exceptions, open up my Kindle Fire and download the book. I would say NPR is batting around 600. Not bad in Major League Baseball, even better in minor league book review.

Tom MacDonald seemed to be the real thing, a local who wrote about his own streets, his own people. I live and work not far from these same streets so my interest was certainly captured. In fact we recently had visitors from Australia who rented a house boat in the same harbor where some of the action takes place.

While reading The Charelestown Connection, it can be said Mr. MacDonald knows his streets and the people who occupy them. Each of his characters are well represented by his writing. From the IRA to displaced Native Americans to the FBI, he has created an interesting crew.

Then there is the plot. Far fetched is being kind.

Not to be a spoiler I won't go into at all. Suspend disbelief, enjoy the writing and hope Mr. MacDonald can find a more grounded and fulsome plot for his antagonist and the surrounding supporting players in his hopefully soon to be published second novel.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Charlestown Connection' By Tom MacDonald is an even paced mystery that just keeps you wanting more. Dermot Sparhawk is a recovering alcoholic, former football star, and current management at a food pantry in the projects of Boston. When Dermot's godfather comes to him with a knife in his back, his dying words lead Dermot on the chase for the truth.

Dermot not only has to uncover the mystery of his godfather's last words, but he also has to deal with the IRA, FBI and the Boston mob throughout the story. But Dermot does not work alone. He has a loyal backing of friends and family to help him solve his mystery.

Although the initial mystery was confusing to follow at times, once Dermot finds out that some of the initial run-ins he had were not necessarily directly connected to his search for the truth, the book really picked up and remained interesting until the end. Readers who love a good mystery will want to check this one out.

*Reviewer received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads

[Debbie Maskus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting fictional account of the 1990 art heist from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The event did happen and has been labeled “the holy grail of art crime" due to the unsolved status of over $500 million in art. MacDonald's characters are vivid from the wheelchair bound African American computer geek and the half Canadian Indian ex football player. Sometimes, I felt confused with the various minor characters. The transition from chapter to chapter at the beginning of the book lacks continuity. MacDonald presents street hard characters that have seen the bad times, but are struggling to live each day. Dermot Sparhawk fights alcoholism each day, but underneath the gruff exterior is a heart of gold. The insertion of the Oulipo business distracted from the story. The business of art forgery was amazing in showing that some forgeries can almost pass as the original art.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot to like about this book, but it falls short of the "good" mark. The set-up: Dermot Sparhawk, a townie in the projects of Boston, sets out to solve the mystery of his godfather's murder, and tussles along the way with the IRA, art forgers, local union bosses, the police, and the FBI. The author has an excellent sense of place (which Boston natives will appreciate) and a good pacing of dialogue, and the plot is outlandish but fun (and no more ridiculous that the plots of your average crime-caper-thrillers). A clever solution to the 20-year old real-life art heist from Boston's Gardner Museum is presented at the end. My major critique is that the book lacks emotion and empathy. The interior monologues of Sparhawk are well-written, but there aren't *enough* of them to add depth to either his character or the plot. The author needs to work on balancing dialogue with thought. (A minor critique is that the character of the female FBI agent sorely lacks in believability.)

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another book I just sort of stumbled across without big expectations for. I'm not from Boston, but having gone to school there, got to appreciate some of the good and not so good things about the various places. Love it when I am able to recall my own memories from places mentioned in the book. But I was also a student at MassArt (art school in Boston for those who don't know) when the heist at the Gardner took place. I had trouble putting the book down once I got not very far into it. The writing kept pulling me back. Will I be up at night wondering about the various characters? Probably not, but I liked them. I felt like I was meeting friends of friends. Good guys all in all, but people I wouldn't be likely to meet up with any time soon. There were some things I didn't find as easy to swallow, but over all, I was pleased.

[Kristine Kucera · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy the Steve Hamilton Alex McKnight series, I suspect you will also enjoy this story. (I have no concrete reasons for the comparison; but, there is something about the feel and tone of the story.) It is a simple tale that quickly turns into a complicated mystery - with much history behind it. It starts with a murder, a code word, and a key - and becomes so much more. I was disappointed to see that this is the only book with this character as I feel this could easily be turned into a series - as the main character and his two sidekicks have much potential for future adventure. I will most likely look into other books by this author in the hopes that it is as much the writer as the story and characters.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few things I really liked about this book, and a few things I didn't like. I liked the picture into urban Boston, yet at times it felt like too much, as though the author was writing more about the streets of Boston than his characters. The characters seemed one-dimensional, and I found it difficult to care what happened to any of them. And there were so many characters! One after another, very difficult to keep track of who was who. (As to be expected when you're writing a gritty novel about criminals, there was profanity, so anyone offended by the F word won't want to read this book.) Overall, it was just okay for me.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dermot Sparhawk was going to be big in pro football. Following an injury, he's a recovering alcoholic who runs a food pantry for a Catholic parish in a tough part of Boston. When his godfather stumbles into the food pantry with a knife in his back, and gives Dermot a key just before he dies, everybody and his brother (cops, lowlifes, the IRA) show up at his door to find out what his godfather told or gave him before he died. The book is OK 92 1/2 stars), but we've seen it all before. Three stars because that's the closest option.

[Judyarzt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this book up on a whim just based on the title, and glad I did. Started slow, but once I got into the plot with all of its twists and turns, it was hard to put down. MacDonald is a pro at Boston trivia and culture, and even those who are not mystery fans but have a love of everything Boston will enjoy this book. Highly recommend, and for those who find the thriller a bit hard to follow in the beginning with all the hints dropped it with what seems random, stick with it, as you try to piece together all parts of the puzzle.

[Bev Ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Charlestown Connection is a great first novel. Full of suspense, plot twists and great characters. I love crime novels and this one is great in part because it's local. Tom MacDonald is a great, new addition to the literary world. I look forward to reading more of his work and hope this book becomes a series, I like the protaganist and the cast of characters that he deals with. If you like crime novels that are gritty, smart and fast paced I recommend this one.

[Kathleen Rota · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this morning and it was awesome! Very engrossing story that had great pacing and kept me fully engaged. Written by the husband of a friend and just won Best First Novel
at the Independent Book Awards Reception
at the Plaza Hotel, New York, NY

Tom has also been nominated for the
2012 International Thriller Awards
Best First Novel and is a finalist for the
American Librarians Association
Book of the Year Award

Check it out!!

[Dava Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wish there were degrees between three and four stars. This one is closer to a four than a three, hence my rating. It was a fun, quick, easy read. I wanted to know the main character better - it's almost as if we nearly know him, but not quite.

But, I didn't even come close to guessing how it would end, and the fact I wanted to know more about the main character is a good thing.

If you enjoy mysteries, this one is fun.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I wasn't impressed. The style seemed very basic, and I didn't have a feel for where it was going. Once the art heist came into the picture, the action and mystery picked up. Wish the main character and a few of the others would have been fleshed out more. They had potential. It's a different view of Boston, for sure.

[Robin Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title caught my eye. The writer was featuring his book outside the Yellow Umbrella Bookstore in Chatham and I stopped to chat and learned we have some friends in common. Had a bit of trouble keeping the wiseguys straight in this book but in the end it's a townie that saves the day. I was assured by the author that this is a quick and easy book to read and this is most certainly the case.