As an avid book-reader, I am always on the lookout for new authors that can be added to my list of favourites. It is, of
course, always a treat to find a debut novel that tantalises from the very first page but a huge letdown when the promises made in the first chapter are not borne out by the continuing story, in some cases it appears that the best parts of the story are contained in the abstract on the back.
I am very pleased to say that this was not the case with David Hosp’s debut; ‘Dark Harbour.’ From the very first chapter I was gripped with a need to learn more about the characters and to follow their stories as quickly as possible. The skill displayed by the writer is devastatingly effective, his narrative is addictive, the characters absolutely life-like and the plot perfect.
The story opens with the grisly discovery of a corpse floating in Boston Harbour. The
victim is female and her injuries bear all the hallmarks of the serial killer ‘Little Jack,’ whose psychotic activity has already claimed 6 lives and left the residents of Boston under the shadow of a terror reminiscent of the days the ‘Boston Strangler’ was at large. As the main characters chase the clues that lead them to catch the murderer they realise that this particular victim is different in many ways. All prior victims have been prostitutes whereas this latest body is that of an ambitious lawyer, Natalie Caldwell. Several questions are raised; is this the work of a copycat? Has ‘Little Jack’ changed his modus operandi to confuse his pursuers? Or, was the death of this victim unrelated to the series of murders that had already taken place? Was she part of something far more sinister?
The hero of the story is Scott Finn, friend, colleague and one-time lover of the murdered woman. He too is a high-flying, ambitious lawyer but as the last person to see the victim alive he is also the main suspect in the investigation. Not willing to trust the police to uncover the truth and reveal his innocence, he launches his own search for the killer. Drawing on his past experiences on the streets of Boston he begins to uncover the reasons she may have been killed and its possible links to the case he has inherited as a result of her untimely and vicious death. He begins to feel that he may be chasing ghosts and that perhaps his friend was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. However his amateur investigation brings him under deeper scrutiny of the law and also to the attention of politically powerful men whose
activities are somewhat outside the remit of legal business transactions. Was Natalie aware of their activities? Are these men responsible for her death?
The story is fast-paced, exciting and packed with stomach-clenching twists and turns which sabotage the reader’s expectations right up to the explosive and unpredictable denouement. David Hosp is a writer of supreme calibre, he has rightly claimed his place among the great modern fiction writers and on my list of favourites.