Too Late to Run

Mara Cunningham Series #3

by John Perich

WHEN THE FEDS CAME FOR MICKEY SCANLON, THEY CAME HARD.

Hard-hitting crime photographer Mara Cunningham is back on the streets of Boston.

The FBI scooped up the city's most notorious real estate developer without warning, and they're not saying why.

As Mara digs into Mickey Scanlon's arrest, every clue she uncovers turns up more trouble: gun-toting militias, corrupt bankers, and psycho arsonists. All of them have a score to settle with Mickey, and they'll run over anything--or anyone--who gets in their way.

They have no idea what they're in for.

TOO LATE TO RUN is the third book in the Mara Cunningham series. It follows Boston's most dangerous photographer as she solves mysteries, uncovers secrets, and busts some heads. It's dark, gritty, and action-packed.

402 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2014

About the author

While working in a variety of Boston-area tech startups, John Perich has still found time to write and publish several gritty crime thrillers, particularly the Mara Cunningham series (Too Close To Miss in 2011; Too Hard to Handle in 2012).

A Baltimore native but a Massachusetts resident, John teaches and practices jiu-jitsu, turns a winking eye to pop culture on Overthinking It, samples whiskey indiscriminately but responsibly, and rocks a mean karaoke mic.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The adventures of Mara Cunningham ratchet up a notch in this, the latest and to date last installment of my friend/comrade’s Boston-based crime-thriller series. She has to cope with arsonists, militia dudes (out in Worcester County, natch), smarmy crooked FBI people, and the occasional fuckboy.

Looming behind it all is a big bank! The normal subprime shenanigans weren’t enough for one banker, so they go a few further notches into open criminality, setting off a chain of events involving deadly arson and the taking down of a local crime boss with whom Mara had a tense but reasonable relationship. She winds up caught between her day job at a dying newspaper, her side gig working with the crime boss’s charming retainer trying to figure out what happened, and an offer to work at something like buzzfeed. She’s got a lot on her plate, and people keep burning stuff down around her.

I’d say this latest volume is the best in terms of having a lot of bravura scenes. I especially liked Mara leading a crowd of Occupyish protesters to chant the name of an evil banker she needed to flush out, and a scene where someone tries to arsonize the main character on a MBTA train car was memorable, considering how much time I’ve spent on them. There’s a lot of interesting facets and characters, which I like. I’m a little foggy as to exact details of the scheme Mara stumbled upon- this happens with me and crime fiction sometimes. But the main gist is that Mara, and a number of ordinary people, are caught in the gears of a ruthless capital machine, between big impersonal crooks like the bank and small crooks with a face, like a crime boss. Ultimately, none of them are good for society as a whole, and will take everything you’ve got- as Mara finds out personally. She has lost a lot by the end of the book, and I’m curious to see how she comes out of it. ****’

https://toomuchberard.wordpress.com/2...

[Nay Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange ofan honest review.

I gave this beauty a 4.5 star rating.

Medium paced and full of action, Mara Cunningham is back! The Feds has now captured Mickey Scanlon at his office and questions Mara about him. She knows nothing. It's not until she is hired by Tommy, an associate of Mickey's, that things get interesting.

Mara takes the job to look deeper into things with Mickey, but soon finds that the more she looks and the deeper she digs the more she puts herself in danger.

I find Mara to be a very brilliant lady, yet naïve at the same time. After all that she went through in Too Close To Miss and Too Much To Handle, she still has yet to learn to stay out of danger. Shockingly enough it makes me love her character even more because she is constantly thrown into things and handles them not so much with grace but with a unique edge.

John Perich has created a fantastic character in Mara Cunningham. His writing style is easy to love. The plot twists and surprises are outstanding and make for such an awesome mystery series.

Definitely recommend this and can't wait to get more or Mara.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe I didn't review this when I after I finished! As usual, it's a page turner, and I had to keep going to find out what happened to Mara and how she was going to end up on top.

This time around, it's a more ambiguous ending, even though the bad guy ends up getting what he deserves. But the bad guy keeps shifting around.

Mara's emotional journey is the real focus on this book. She's more reactive than active in this book, and everything that happens seems to be honing her for her next adventure.

But overall, I liked it, and will probably read it again at some point.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best of the Mara Cunningham series so far. I read it in two sessions, and it would have been one except that I need to go to work sometimes.

There's a lot to like in this book, but I think I'm most impressed with how full a character Mara is, including her flaws, which are as important as her strengths. Mara's a mess, and the book and series are much more interesting for it. What propels the main action is her determination to do right, but what makes it riveting is her inability to play it safe or control her worst impulses.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As enjoyable as the two previous books, Mara Cunningham finds herself wrapped up in circumstances that she's got to run to keep up with. Mobsters, terrorists, and arsonists are swirling about her. As with the previous books, Perich puts his character through a wringer that would get a sympathetic nod from John Mclane. I'd like to see the next book be "Mara Cunningham catches a break for once, you know?"

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won this from Goodreads as a First Reads. This is the third book in the Mara Cunningham series. I want to read the first two. Reminds me a little of the VI Warshawsky series, but set in Boston instead of Chicago. Love a girl PI who kicks butt!

[John]

I thought it was okay.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment of the Mara Cunningham series. I am enjoying the continued character development and am interested to see where the few dangling plot lines at the end of this book lead.