What do you think?
Rate this book
Mr. Finn #3
The Prison Guard's Son
Search for monsters and long enough and you might become one.
Thirty years ago Jacob Vance and Raymond Turner committed a gruesome crime that shocked a small West Virginia town. Only nine years old themselves, they kidnapped and murdered four-year-old Josh Baker.
The two boys were quickly arrested, tried and convicted, but were released after serving only eight years in a juvenile detention facility. Because of the heinousness of their crime and the town's thirst for retribution, the government gave Vance and Turner new identities and relocated them to parts unknown.
Now, the victim's father has hired Finn Harding to find his son's killers so he can levy the justice that was denied so long ago. Along the way, Finn clashes with a tenacious US Marshal determined to protect the killers' new identities and crosses paths with an infamous triggerman hired to do what the courts didn't.
What begins as a typical job for Finn quickly spirals into a moral struggle between revenge and forgiveness as he learns details about the lives Vance and Turner have been living.
As he fights with his conscience, Finn learns that monsters truly exist, you can't hide from your past, and some cases should stay buried.
Thirty years ago Jacob Vance and Raymond Turner committed a gruesome crime that shocked a small West Virginia town. Only nine years old themselves, they kidnapped and murdered four-year-old Josh Baker.
The two boys were quickly arrested, tried and convicted, but were released after serving only eight years in a juvenile detention facility. Because of the heinousness of their crime and the town's thirst for retribution, the government gave Vance and Turner new identities and relocated them to parts unknown.
Now, the victim's father has hired Finn Harding to find his son's killers so he can levy the justice that was denied so long ago. Along the way, Finn clashes with a tenacious US Marshal determined to protect the killers' new identities and crosses paths with an infamous triggerman hired to do what the courts didn't.
What begins as a typical job for Finn quickly spirals into a moral struggle between revenge and forgiveness as he learns details about the lives Vance and Turner have been living.
As he fights with his conscience, Finn learns that monsters truly exist, you can't hide from your past, and some cases should stay buried.
ebook
First published July 14, 2016
10 people are currently reading
274 people want to read
About the author
Trace Conger
24 books60 followersTrace Conger is an award-winning author in the crime, thriller, and suspense genres. He writes the Connor Harding (Thriller) series and the Mr. Finn (PI) series.
His Connor Harding series follows freelance “Mirage Man” Connor Harding as he solves problems for the world’s most dangerous criminals. The Mr. Finn series follows private investigator Finn Harding as he straddles the fine line between right and wrong.
Conger won a Shamus Award for his debut novel, THE SHADOW BROKER. His suspense novella, THE WHITE BOY, won the Fresh Ink Award for Best Novella of 2020.
He is known for his tight writing style, dark themes, and subtle humor. Trace lives in Cincinnati with his wonderfully supportive family.
Visit him online at www.traceconger.com.
Sign up for his newsletter to receive free fiction and exclusive updates at www.traceconger.com/freebies.
His Connor Harding series follows freelance “Mirage Man” Connor Harding as he solves problems for the world’s most dangerous criminals. The Mr. Finn series follows private investigator Finn Harding as he straddles the fine line between right and wrong.
Conger won a Shamus Award for his debut novel, THE SHADOW BROKER. His suspense novella, THE WHITE BOY, won the Fresh Ink Award for Best Novella of 2020.
He is known for his tight writing style, dark themes, and subtle humor. Trace lives in Cincinnati with his wonderfully supportive family.
Visit him online at www.traceconger.com.
Sign up for his newsletter to receive free fiction and exclusive updates at www.traceconger.com/freebies.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 26, 2016
Four-year-old Josh Baker was kidnapped from a shopping mall by two 9-year-old boys and brutally murdered.
The two boys, Jacob Vance and Raymond Turner, were caught and convicted, but only served time until they turned 18 years of age.
Thirty years have passed and the father of Josh Baker wants real justice for his murdered son. He hires Finn Harding, a PI who has lost his license, to find the 2 boys, now grown men. He wants Finn to find them, he's already lined up someone else to kill them.
Because of the threats to their lives, they have been given new identities and relocated them .. no one knows their new names or where they are except for the US Marshals.
Finn takes on the job but reserves the right to pass on whatever information he can find to the father. Finn may cross some lines here and there, but he also bears responsibility to what happens after.
This is quite a good book. I liked all the characters ..good and bad. Finn is multi-layered in both his professional and private life. It is a well-written crime novel with a great deal of attention paid to the details of tracking down people who do not want to be found. The premise was solid.
I am sad to say that I have not read the first two books in this series. I will take care of that shortly. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves crime drama.
Many thanks to the author who provided a digital copy for my review. All opinions expressed are my own.
The two boys, Jacob Vance and Raymond Turner, were caught and convicted, but only served time until they turned 18 years of age.
Thirty years have passed and the father of Josh Baker wants real justice for his murdered son. He hires Finn Harding, a PI who has lost his license, to find the 2 boys, now grown men. He wants Finn to find them, he's already lined up someone else to kill them.
Because of the threats to their lives, they have been given new identities and relocated them .. no one knows their new names or where they are except for the US Marshals.
Finn takes on the job but reserves the right to pass on whatever information he can find to the father. Finn may cross some lines here and there, but he also bears responsibility to what happens after.
This is quite a good book. I liked all the characters ..good and bad. Finn is multi-layered in both his professional and private life. It is a well-written crime novel with a great deal of attention paid to the details of tracking down people who do not want to be found. The premise was solid.
I am sad to say that I have not read the first two books in this series. I will take care of that shortly. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves crime drama.
Many thanks to the author who provided a digital copy for my review. All opinions expressed are my own.
July 15, 2016
Former private investigator Finn Harding lost his license a few years back, but that hasn't slowed him down a whit. Granted, he has to be more careful about running afoul of the law, but he's been making a decent living by operating in the shadows of the underground. This time, he's contacted by the father of a son who was tortured and murdered some 30 years ago in Parkersburg, West Virginia. All these years later, the intent is to find the two who did the deed and who, at the time, were just 9 years old. Tried and convicted as adults, they spent only a few years in a juvenile prison before being released. Problem is, it appears they disappeared into the government's witness protection program and now could be anywhere in the world.
Finn is a bit torn because taking the case means he'll have to be away from his Cincinnati home, the young daughter he sees on weekends and an ex-wife who seems to be leaning toward reconciliation (he won't miss his Colombo-loving father, with whom he makes his home, nearly as much). Then too, he has ethical concerns over what the father intends to do to the pair after they're found; but in the end, the details of the murder are so gruesome that Finn sets his worries aside and agrees to help.
As expected, locating the pair isn't easy, given that their original identities have been wiped off the face of earth as we know it. So here and there, Finn enlists help from a few friends - all interesting in their own rights - who have ways of ferreting out background information on just about anyone anywhere. The search takes him from Parkersburg to Texas and Tennessee - and quickly puts him in the crosshairs of a female FBI agent who's determined to thwart his efforts and let the two sleeping dogs lie where they were planted lo those many years ago.
That also means finding the pair will prove more difficult than it might otherwise be - and involves a lot of boring grunt work. Finn spends hours, for instance, watching a suspect's home for activity as he tries to make a positive identification ("Stakeouts are worse than anal fissures and church," he quips at one point). But eventually, he gets what he's after.
And that's the end of that. Or not: Although the culprits have been located, Finn learns details about their current lives that make him think twice about revealing their whereabouts to the murdered boy's father. He also learns he's not the only one who was hired; someone else has a vested interest in finding the culprits - someone who's perfectly willing and extremely able to take out anyone who gets in his way, including Finn himself.
For the record, this is the third in the Finn series, but it stands well on its own. In fact, I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first, The Shadow Broker, which I received via NetGalley in exchange for a review. Somehow, the next one, Scar Tissue, got lost in my ever-growing stack of to-read books (an oversight I fully intend to rectify as soon as possible), but when the author offered me the chance to read and review this one, saying yes was a no-brainer. Admittedly, my interest in the series as a whole is heightened because I grew up not far from Cincinnati, and I really enjoy reading books set in places I know fairly well (now that I'm in the northeastern part of the Buckeye State, another favorite author is Les Roberts, whose P.I. Milan Jacovich lives in Cleveland).
This one hooked me with mention of Parkersburg, where my husband and I have spent a number of vacation hours as we poked our way in and around historic Marietta (just across the Ohio River). If anything, Book No. 3 is even better than the first one, and I don't hesitate to say this is one of the best series of its kind that I've read in a while. Highly recommended!
Finn is a bit torn because taking the case means he'll have to be away from his Cincinnati home, the young daughter he sees on weekends and an ex-wife who seems to be leaning toward reconciliation (he won't miss his Colombo-loving father, with whom he makes his home, nearly as much). Then too, he has ethical concerns over what the father intends to do to the pair after they're found; but in the end, the details of the murder are so gruesome that Finn sets his worries aside and agrees to help.
As expected, locating the pair isn't easy, given that their original identities have been wiped off the face of earth as we know it. So here and there, Finn enlists help from a few friends - all interesting in their own rights - who have ways of ferreting out background information on just about anyone anywhere. The search takes him from Parkersburg to Texas and Tennessee - and quickly puts him in the crosshairs of a female FBI agent who's determined to thwart his efforts and let the two sleeping dogs lie where they were planted lo those many years ago.
That also means finding the pair will prove more difficult than it might otherwise be - and involves a lot of boring grunt work. Finn spends hours, for instance, watching a suspect's home for activity as he tries to make a positive identification ("Stakeouts are worse than anal fissures and church," he quips at one point). But eventually, he gets what he's after.
And that's the end of that. Or not: Although the culprits have been located, Finn learns details about their current lives that make him think twice about revealing their whereabouts to the murdered boy's father. He also learns he's not the only one who was hired; someone else has a vested interest in finding the culprits - someone who's perfectly willing and extremely able to take out anyone who gets in his way, including Finn himself.
For the record, this is the third in the Finn series, but it stands well on its own. In fact, I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first, The Shadow Broker, which I received via NetGalley in exchange for a review. Somehow, the next one, Scar Tissue, got lost in my ever-growing stack of to-read books (an oversight I fully intend to rectify as soon as possible), but when the author offered me the chance to read and review this one, saying yes was a no-brainer. Admittedly, my interest in the series as a whole is heightened because I grew up not far from Cincinnati, and I really enjoy reading books set in places I know fairly well (now that I'm in the northeastern part of the Buckeye State, another favorite author is Les Roberts, whose P.I. Milan Jacovich lives in Cleveland).
This one hooked me with mention of Parkersburg, where my husband and I have spent a number of vacation hours as we poked our way in and around historic Marietta (just across the Ohio River). If anything, Book No. 3 is even better than the first one, and I don't hesitate to say this is one of the best series of its kind that I've read in a while. Highly recommended!
May 27, 2017
This three book (so far) series takes private eye fiction into the 21st Century!
May 27, 2017
Another good read from Conger. While not as compelling of a plot as the earlier two Finn novels, it did move right along.
Maybe I just didn't notice in the first two Finn stories, but this one seemed to have more than necessary recapping what Finn was doing and what the case was about. Almost like Conger thought the reader would forget the basic story as they moved along. Got to be a little annoying later on in the book. Take a way a star for that.
Disappointed that there are no more Finn novels for me to catch up on. Hopefully Conger will release another sometime soon.
Maybe I just didn't notice in the first two Finn stories, but this one seemed to have more than necessary recapping what Finn was doing and what the case was about. Almost like Conger thought the reader would forget the basic story as they moved along. Got to be a little annoying later on in the book. Take a way a star for that.
Disappointed that there are no more Finn novels for me to catch up on. Hopefully Conger will release another sometime soon.
August 19, 2016
Imagine losing your four year old child to sadistic murderers. Would you want revenge? Would you want it even if the murderers were only five years older than the child you lost? How long would you be willing to wait to get that revenge and how would you go about achieving it? That is what this book is about…and monsters…monsters that are pure evil.
Finn is asked to find two people and as they have gone WAY underground it is no easy task. The story of his search is interesting as are the people he encounters while he is looking. He wants to look both men in the eye and assess who they are three decades after they admitted to killing Josh Baker. He does this, uncovers a child pornography ring, encounters an alpha female working for WITSEC, meets up with some of the people that he worked with in the first two books and also tries to decide what is best for himself and his family as he moves forward after this case. All of it makes a thrilling read that had me turning pages from beginning to end.
I was hooked on the Mr. Finn books from the very first one I read and was thrilled when the author asked if I would be willing to read and review his second and third books in the series. I hope there will be more Mr. Finn books in the future because I am not finished with Finn, his family or the people he works with and hope the author isn’t either.
Thank you to the author for the copy of this book given in exchange for my honest review.
Finn is asked to find two people and as they have gone WAY underground it is no easy task. The story of his search is interesting as are the people he encounters while he is looking. He wants to look both men in the eye and assess who they are three decades after they admitted to killing Josh Baker. He does this, uncovers a child pornography ring, encounters an alpha female working for WITSEC, meets up with some of the people that he worked with in the first two books and also tries to decide what is best for himself and his family as he moves forward after this case. All of it makes a thrilling read that had me turning pages from beginning to end.
I was hooked on the Mr. Finn books from the very first one I read and was thrilled when the author asked if I would be willing to read and review his second and third books in the series. I hope there will be more Mr. Finn books in the future because I am not finished with Finn, his family or the people he works with and hope the author isn’t either.
Thank you to the author for the copy of this book given in exchange for my honest review.
October 20, 2016
This is a superbly crafted crime novel. The characters are richly drawn with a rare combination of nuance and depth. A twist at the end that doesn't add any value to what was already an exceptionally well-constructed and delivered story is a minor quibble. That point aside, this is one of the year's best books; don't miss it. Read our full review, here: http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/myst...
May 30, 2017
At what length, would you go to for justice? I don’t know how I would answer that question.
I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child in the horrible way that Mr. Baker lost his young son. And then the injustice of having the government protect the killers after their short incarceration. He has a well thought out plan for his own form of justice. He hired Mr. Finn to find the two killers who now have new identities. Mr. Finn uses his skills and resources to find those that can’t be found and, thus, clashing with the US Marshal. This simple case quickly becomes a lot more complicated.
I was provided a copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for my honest review.
I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child in the horrible way that Mr. Baker lost his young son. And then the injustice of having the government protect the killers after their short incarceration. He has a well thought out plan for his own form of justice. He hired Mr. Finn to find the two killers who now have new identities. Mr. Finn uses his skills and resources to find those that can’t be found and, thus, clashing with the US Marshal. This simple case quickly becomes a lot more complicated.
I was provided a copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for my honest review.
September 21, 2016
This is a great book! I loved the story & especially the unexpected twist at the end. I won this book free from Goodreads. It was a great win!
September 17, 2016
NOTE: I REALLY COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. Initially, I thought it'd be another "talk in the mode of the cop turned PI turned underground investigator run of the mill mystery". I do enjoy those. However as this story evolved, I was captivated. I wanted to know 'who dun it' and the writing kept me with my nose in the book from early morning through late afternoon. Finn Harding is the former PI who sometimes works at the edge of what's legal. He's approached by the father of his kidnapped, murdered 4 year old to find his murderers. They were only 9 y.o but the brutality of the crime was horrific. They were given early release long ago and put under Witness Protection Program...strange in itself. Why and by whom are they being protected? Finn is hired to just find them but he wrestles with his conscience. He knows there will be someone else to finish the job that the dad wants done...their deaths. A great story, and a great ending. I just learned that this is the third in Finn Harding series... I will be reading the first two AND am looking forward t0 the fourth! Thanks Good Reads.
August 14, 2016
I am a huge fan of the Mr. Finn Novels. The Prison Guard’s Son is no exception. Right from the jump I was captivated and involved with the story. This time Mr. Finn is hired to find two men who would rather not be found. Why, I will not reveal. The story is straight forward, and the action is sudden and surprising.
The Mr. Finn novels are well written and offer a superior example of the P.I. novel. Here is my suggestion – Get on the case right now. Buy all three of the Mr. Finn novels and feel what it is like to be a P.I.
The Mr. Finn novels are well written and offer a superior example of the P.I. novel. Here is my suggestion – Get on the case right now. Buy all three of the Mr. Finn novels and feel what it is like to be a P.I.
September 21, 2016
This book was a page turner. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next! There wasn't a dull moment throughout the entire book.
November 22, 2017
The sequel is even better than the first in this series. Our hero straddles several moral contradictions, and it isn't easy for him. I love books that describe how missing people are found, and this is one of the better efforts. B+
August 17, 2018
A great page turner of a detective novel!!
January 13, 2021
a few minor inconsistencies, otherwise fantastic.
January 19, 2021
I liked these books. A quick series of three books that I enjoyed. Violent, dark, but also funny and I was rooting for Finn. Hope there is another one in the series at some point.
June 28, 2025
This is the best one of the series! I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to see what is up next for Mr. Finn!
September 23, 2016
‘Just like dumpster diving, the dirtiest methods often yield the best results.’
Thirty years ago, in a small West Virginia town, two nine-year-old boys kidnapped and murdered four-year-old Josh Baker. The boys, Jacob Vance and Raymond Turner, were quickly arrested, tried and convicted. And, after eight years in a juvenile detention facility, they were released and given new identities.
Josh Baker’s father, Willie, hires Finn Harding to find his son’s killers. Willie believes that his son’s killers have been placed in witness protection, but he wants to find them.
‘Those two have to pay the real price for what they did to Josh’.
Finn Harding has a dilemma. He no longer has his PI licence and works underground. While work is falling into his lap at the moment, it’s never easy to turn down a paying job. Willie Baker only wants Finn to find the killers, but Finn knows that that won’t be an end to it. Still, after reviewing the information that Willie Baker gives him, and visiting Josh Baker’s grave, he takes the job on.
Finn Harding’s search is not easy. Still, he’s nothing if not resourceful and after some false starts he makes progress. Along the way he clashes with US Deputy Marshal Valerie Cheatham, and finds that he is not the only one searching for the killers.
Two aspects make this novel particularly interesting. The first is the detail provided of the techniques used by Finn Harding to try to find the killers. The second is the moral ambiguity of a number of the characters. Is it possible that either of the killers can redeem themselves by having made a positive contribution to the community since their release?
I read this novel during a four-hour long train journey last month. It held my attention from beginning to end. I assume that it was at least in part inspired by the brutal murder of two-year-old Jamie Bulger in the UK in 1993. This is the third of Trace Conger’s novels featuring Finn Harding. I enjoyed the first (‘The Shadow Broker’) but somehow missed the second (‘Scar Tissue’).
I’ll be looking to address that as soon as I can.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Thirty years ago, in a small West Virginia town, two nine-year-old boys kidnapped and murdered four-year-old Josh Baker. The boys, Jacob Vance and Raymond Turner, were quickly arrested, tried and convicted. And, after eight years in a juvenile detention facility, they were released and given new identities.
Josh Baker’s father, Willie, hires Finn Harding to find his son’s killers. Willie believes that his son’s killers have been placed in witness protection, but he wants to find them.
‘Those two have to pay the real price for what they did to Josh’.
Finn Harding has a dilemma. He no longer has his PI licence and works underground. While work is falling into his lap at the moment, it’s never easy to turn down a paying job. Willie Baker only wants Finn to find the killers, but Finn knows that that won’t be an end to it. Still, after reviewing the information that Willie Baker gives him, and visiting Josh Baker’s grave, he takes the job on.
Finn Harding’s search is not easy. Still, he’s nothing if not resourceful and after some false starts he makes progress. Along the way he clashes with US Deputy Marshal Valerie Cheatham, and finds that he is not the only one searching for the killers.
Two aspects make this novel particularly interesting. The first is the detail provided of the techniques used by Finn Harding to try to find the killers. The second is the moral ambiguity of a number of the characters. Is it possible that either of the killers can redeem themselves by having made a positive contribution to the community since their release?
I read this novel during a four-hour long train journey last month. It held my attention from beginning to end. I assume that it was at least in part inspired by the brutal murder of two-year-old Jamie Bulger in the UK in 1993. This is the third of Trace Conger’s novels featuring Finn Harding. I enjoyed the first (‘The Shadow Broker’) but somehow missed the second (‘Scar Tissue’).
I’ll be looking to address that as soon as I can.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews