Third Rail:

Eddy Harkness, the hero of Flynn’s terrific debut, used to be a promising detective running the Boston PD’s Narco-Intel drug squad. But a camera caught him in an encounter with a drunken Red Sox fan after a World Series game that ended in the man’s death, and now Eddy is emptying parking meters in his hometown of Nagog, Mass. Even that job is in jeopardy after Eddy loses his gun during a night of partying. With impressive economy and stylish, sophisticated prose, Flynn, the pen name of Stona Fitch (Give + Take), fills in Eddy’s complex backstory (his family was torn apart by his father’s Bernie Madoff–type scandal) while keeping the main action (Eddy’s efforts to locate the missing weapon and return to Boston’s mean streets) moving briskly. In Nagog, Eddy uncovers a dangerous new drug called Third Rail—and, everywhere, he finds deep veins of corruption. In one haunting scene, Eddy notices rats “stopping to nose garbage, sniffing the burgeoning decay, then moving on to search for fresh rot.” Readers will want to see more of Flynn’s gritty Boston—and Eddy Harkness. Agent: Dan Conaway: Writers House. (June)