The Third Rail

The Third Rail by Michael Harvey

This book was all over the place. I can’t say it was good, bad, or somewhere in the middle. There was a lot to like and a lot to dislike. Like I said, The Third Rail seemed to be going a thousand different directions at one time.

Unlike the first two Michael Kelly novels, The Third Rail alternates between first person narrative from Kelly’s perspective and third person following several other characters. I was used to reading everything through Kelly’s thoughts, but this structure was fine. I just can’t figure out what the author, Michael Harvey, was trying to do.

The first Michael Kelly novel, The Chicago Way, was gritty and raw. The next two have been showier. Both The Fifth Floor and The Third Rail are more typical of other detective novels than was their predecessor. These last two books featured more action, more “romance,” and more heroism. That is not a bad thing; it’s just different from the Michael Kelly that was introduced to us in the first novel.

Also, Michael Kelly has become an overly good guy. He is a guy so morally good that he is no longer very believable. As such, there were situations that made me shake my head. They were too unrealistic. I’ll give you two examples. First is a scene during which Homeland Security wants something Kelly has in his apartment. DHS, along with the mayor of Chicago, break into Kelly’s home while the private investigator is not home. Instead of searching for the item, DHS waits and asks Kelly for it. As it turns out, the item was not hidden; a ten-year old would have found it during a 5-minute search. In reality, Homeland Security would have found the item and left the apartment before Kelly ever showed up—and he may or may not have ever known they were there. The second example is the scene featuring the death of a woman. Someone who really had no true reason to be on the scene killed a woman that Kelly should have killed. But Kelly, the character, couldn’t do that. In The Chicago Way, I believe he would have killed her. It’s almost as if Harvey is creating peripheral characters who exist for the sole purpose of doing the dirty work that he is no longer willing to let Kelly do. I don’t particularly like that.

My biggest issue with The Third Rail is that I felt like was reading a remix of Dennis Lehane’s Darkness, Take My Hand. I am not at all suggesting that Michael Harvey stole Lehane’s story. The two novels had the same feel from beginning. As such, it wasn’t long before I figured out the identity of The Third Rail’s criminal mastermind.

Also, since Harvey utilized third person perspective in telling the story, I would like to have seen more of Robles’ back story. For such an essential character to the narrative of the story, he was in many ways a throw-in. We never learn the “how” about him, and I think the “how” could have added to the novel.

Still, it was a good story, and I recommend The Third Rail to anyone who read the first two Michael Kelly novels.

Among the things I like are the Rachel Swenson storyline. I complained about her after reading The Fifth Floor, but those complaints don’t exist this time around. I like that Harvey has continued the theme of Kelly’s life—nothing he loves sticks around. It just can’t work out for him, and I like that the author has not copped out in that regard. I also love how Harvey keeps the feel of Chicago throughout all the novels. The city is an important character, and I feel the author remains true it.

Although it is not the best, The Third Rail is a good detective novel.

C