Kindle Edition Amazon Jack Harney Author Amazon Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Jack Harney ISBN-10:  0615492622 Type: Fiction Pages: 247 Copyright: Aug 17, 2010 ISBN-13: 9780615492629 Price: $2.99 (eBook) Famed N.Y.P.D. detective, Dax McGowan tracks down the pedophile priest who caused his daughter to commit suicide. The trail takes him to the gates of the Vatican and beyond with his own life imperiled in the process. Bronx bred, Dax McGowan, decorated Detective Lieutenant of the N.Y.P.D., suffers the loss of his daughter by suicide as a result of her sexual abuse by a pedophile priest. An intransigent Catholic Hierarchy,  a politically fearful response by the District Attorney's office, and his own conscience pile up against him as he seeks to exact justice for his darling, Grace. Aided by a "take no prisoners" Special Victims Unit detective, Janet Meehan, the President of an international sex abuse survivors organization, Rebecca Bain, and an unlikely mentor, Seymour Hirsch, Dax attempts to devise a series of clever entrapments in order to pierce the golden veil of secrecy that has throughout history protected the most powerful of all religious institutions.  Excerpt He could hear them just inches below him seeking any sign of his presence. Dax struggled to breathe shallowly. He feared his pounding heart might be audible to his attackers. He knew the slightest sound would mean shots fired into the bottom of the platform draining his body of all its blood onto the basement floor. He concentrated on not blinking, concerned that the one miniscule additional sound would make the difference and cause his discovery. He pictured the stoic and motionless stare of an extremely pensive Sherlock Holmes as his model of silence. Would that work?

Riveting Page Turner
...I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, finding surprises around every corner. I especially liked how the detective, Dax McGowan, used his love of Sherlock Holmes to become that character in his mind as a way of logically working out the intricacies of his daughter's case. The "voice" the author used when Dax would have a "conversation" between Sherlock and Watson was excellent. It felt like I'd been transported into an Arthur Conan Doyle novel. This intelligent addition helped the pacing of the story, alleviating some of the tension from the heavy topic of childhood sexual abuse.

Though this book is a work of fiction, I kept wondering how many of the references to the inner workings of the Catholic Church were true. It piqued my interest so much, I'm ready to do some research on the topic. This just goes to show how knowledgeable the author is and how well-crafted his story was.

MOVIE MATERIAL
The Millstone Prophecy. This book should be made into a movie. It has all the elements, drama, surprise, suspense, etc. As in Water for Elephants, the author of this book obviously spent a great amount of time researching before writing. It is such a timely topic with the Penn State and other similar scandals of today in addition to the priesthood wrongs we detest. The book reads very quickly. I love the short chapters because I want to stop and then just tell myself, just one more, but then I just can't quit reading it. I highly recommend it for airport reading, beach reading, or other times when you can pick up a book and read for a short spell. You won't want to leave this one to your night time reading, or you'll stay up all night trying to learn how the book ends. Jack Harney, I really hope you'll publish another soon.

Worth Buying
This novel introduces a new detective character worth reading about in a series. Dax is interesting, believable, and just quirky enough to make us want the author to write more novels with him as the main character. This novel takes us into the detective's personal life and darkest moments, and it illuminates his search for justice in the murky avenues of a real social evil which exists globally today.