Mahoney, like Caunitz, a middle-management NYPD detective,
attained the rank of captain before his leaving the Force. He
comes from a police family and is at least the second
generation, possibly the third, to enter NYPD.
His series character, flambouyant Detective Brian McKenna,
was introduced in DETECTIVE FIRST GRADE, in which he attains
the titular rank by solving a kidnapping case carried out by
a Latin American terrorist group.
The sequel, EDGE OF THE CITY, is one of the best action
novels I've ever read. The same terrorist group returns to
NYC and holds the entire borough of Manhattan hostage. Sounds
ridiculous (though in light of 9/11, perhaps, like Caunitz,
prescient). Ridiculous or not, in the book it is, in the
words of the Continental Op, "as real as a dime."
McKenna's returned in other books like ONCE IN NEVER OUT,
about Irish terrorists, and BLACK & WHITE, in which the
real-life detective on whom some say McKenna was modeled
appears as a character. In Mahoney's latest book, THE TWO
CHINATOWNS, McKenna takes a back seat and one of his buddies
takes center stage.
McKenna, like Roger West in John Creasey's series, is
something of an international cop, traveling the world on
NYPD business. In the course of the series he's traveled to
Latin America twice, Northern Ireland, and Iceland, among
other places.
For music buffs, it should be noted that Mahoney is the
brother of famed musician Edward Mahoney whom you may know
better by the rock 'n' roll stage name of
"Eddie Money."
JIM DOHERTY
P.S.
I didn't plan it when I made this week NYPD week, but the
events that took place a year ago in Manhattan, and the
heroic part in those events played by members of the NYPD and
the FDNY should be noted here today.
God protect you all, my brothers!
JD
__________________________________________________ Yahoo! -
We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost
http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute
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