Prodigal Son

by Thomas B. Cavanagh

Book Overview

Three months after he's undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, retired police detective Mike Garrity's cancer is in remission. It's great news, but when you've been planning to only live for a few months, you don't normally worry about savings. A return to health also means a return to the workforce, and whether he likes it or not, Mike's going to have to adjust to the role of private investigator. He's also bounced back?into a?romance with a...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031237707X
• ISBN13: 9780312377076
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Full of surprises

Tom Cavanagh has hit his stride with Prodigal Son. With an engaging lead character, this book has many plot surprises that kept me engaged. So many mystery novels these days have plots in which you guess the ending in the first one or two chapters. Not this one. And the personal back story elements are just as good as the mystery. I hated to put the book down and couldn't wait to get back to it. Can't wait for a follow-up.

Another first rate page-turner from Cavanagh

I have a problem with novels written by Thomas B. Cavanagh. The first is that I can't seem to put them down. Every novel of his, I find that I need to finish them as quickly as I can. They interfere with sleep, lunch, and anything else that I may be doing. Once started, I discover that I keep turning them over in my mind. The second problem is that he writes about characters that you actually like, using dialog that is appropriate for the time and the character. As soon as I was notified that Cavanagh had released a new novel, I knew that I had to read it. The latest novel by Thomas B. Cavanagh is Prodigal Son. Like his previous novel, Head Games, which introduced the Michael Garrity character, this book picks up shortly after Head Games ends. However, you do not need to read Head Games to enjoy this novel. The main character, Michael Garrity, ex-cop, twice divorced, and the father of a teenage daughter, returns to the streets of Orlando, Florida, looking for a job. Since his cancer is in remission, he now finds that he needs money to keep living as he was planning on dying. As an ex-cop, a job as a private investigator seems to be a natural for him. On the surface, the two cases that he lands don't seem like much; find a child, given up for adoption years ago and investigate the apparent suicide of a popular high school student. But Mike finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time, charged as a "person of interest" in a particularly grisly murder. If having the police breathing down your neck isn't enough, Cavanagh adds some family issues, a relationship with a cancer survivor with a bad prognosis, and a hurricane. It all adds up to fast paced, well written Florida mystery. Cavanagh's Garrity character is one of the finest in fiction. He is a beautifully written character, with realistic flaws. The fact that he is a cancer survivor adds an interesting twist, but it also allows for a good, continuing subplot. Death is never far from Mike, and it lends a sense of urgency to everything that he does. As he did in Head Games, Cavanagh keeps the action tight and believable, infuses some excellent plot twists, and introduces a cast of very good supporting characters. He has created a world that I want to visit again, and the ending leaves that option open. This book is a "must read."

Action and more action makes for good storytelling

Mike Garrity has retired from the police force due to the recent removal of a brain tumor he refers to as "Bob." When A-Plus Investigators offers him a job as a private investigator, he is reluctant but decides he must move on with his life instead of obsessing over when or if the tumor will return. While attending a cancer support group, Mike becomes close to Debbie Watson, who is also a cancer victim. She reveals a secret to him and asks for his help with a personal matter. Mike agrees and his new career begins. Death is a prominent theme in Prodigal Son. In addition to Mike and Debbie's health problems, Mike takes a case involving a teenager who died of a drug overdose. He has been retained by the child's father to disprove that it was a suicide, as the police have classified it. While investigating this case, Mike is constantly reminded of his own mortality and sees death all around him. The author does an incredible job of personifying death by showing it as a human predator lurking about and waiting for the opportunity to take action. The book title is a reference to the Bible passage in which a son was lost and has since been found after realizing the errors of his ways. Cavanagh deftly gives the reader insight into Mike's past relationships with his two ex-wives and his teenage daughter and the lengths to which he would go to make up for the past. His thought processes are realistically portrayed and serve as a reminder that people should treat others well because someday it will be too late to atone for one's mistakes. Prodigal Son is an action-filled novel with numerous plot twists that will keep the reader wondering what could possibly happen next. The manner in which the book ends offers an excellent opportunity for a sequel. I am eagerly awaiting more works from this talented author. Armchair Interviews agrees.

fast-paced investigative tale

Former police officer Mike Garrity plans to recover from surgery to remove a brain tumor (see HEAD GAMES). However, he considers the advice of his friend Jimmy Hungerford of A-Plus Investigators to become a private investigator as the cases are simple yet will keep him occupied. Before he can decide whether he feels ready, Mile attends the funeral of teenage suicide Victor Madrigas, a classmate of his daughter Jennifer; the late teen's grieving father Ben believes his son was murdered and after pleading with Mike that he will pay him to investigate, Mike agrees. Mike and fellow cancer survivor support group participant Debbie Watson are attracted to one another. They spend a night together. Her prognosis is very serious so in the morning she begs Mike to find her son she gave up years ago for adoption. Mike agrees. Finally his former wife Cam informs him she is carrying his child. Meanwhile after absorbing the shocker of being a father again, Mike finds Debbie's son, Jonathan Dennis, but his roommate Steven Schumacher keeps Mike from meeting him. When Mike breaks into their apartment, he is greeted by Jonathan's corpse and soon afterward jailed on suspicion of murder. Out on bail, Mike is shocked as Debbie is missing. Mike has enough on his plate with the cancer, but in some ways he agrees with Jimmy to get back to work soonest so as to avoid a self pity party; all those who care about him will drown him enough with their misguided sympathy. Thus by taking on the two cases, he becomes a role model while the audience obtains a hectic incredibly fast-paced investigative tale as Mike not so gaily and readers quite happily wonder what's going on. Harriet Klausner

Hunker Down with a Great Central Florida Mystery

Ex-cop/ex-husband Mike Garrity is back on the job, this time without his sarcoma sidekick Bob (at least for the time being.) Living tumor-free is the good news, but there's no shortage of bad news, including a support group with potentially fatal side effects, a killer hurricane, dubious development deals, and quality time in fast food parking lots. Cavanagh continues to make the most of the street cred he established in Head Games. Locals will enjoy the passing references to Orlando peculiarities such as our civic asparagus and the political quagmire of Parramore. When a trio of hurricanes slashed across the center of the state a few years ago, we gained an unofficial state motto: Hunker Down. By all means, hunker down with this fresh, fast and funny Florida mystery.