"From the devastating, effective prologue right up through the slam-bang ending, DARK HARBOR is a terrific read. The narrative drive is relentless, the plotting is impeccable, the themes large, the characters believable."
— John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of The Second Chair

When I started writing DARK HARBOR on my commute, it never occurred to me that it would amount to anything more than a diversion from my real life. Writing has been a hobby of mine that I have always enjoyed but never taken too seriously (until DARK HARBOR, I had never even finished any of the mini "projects" I'd started for kicks over the years).

When I finished the first draft of the book, I was thrilled, and went straight out to the local CopyCop to figure out how much it would cost to make fifty or a hundred paperback copies for my family and friends. Before I could decide whether to go with the standard black-and-white cover, or spring for the three-color graphic cover, though, my father (who had read the manuscript and loved it) told me that he had a friend named Aaron Priest, who was a literary agent in New York, and encouraged me to have him look at it. I figured, what the hell, and sent it in. Aaron told me he'd have someone take a look at it and try to get back to me in a month or so. Less than a week later he called and offered to represent me. The rest, as they say, is history.

Only a fool would fail to recognize the role that luck and timing play in having any first novel published, and the serendipitous collision of fortune that is required for any writer's work to get plucked from the sea of exceptional manuscripts turned out by professionals and amateurs alike every year. I am grateful to so many people for their help and support, and overwhelmed by the early reaction DARK HARBOR has received. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Scott Finn worked his way out of Boston’s toughest neighborhood to become a rising star in the city’s most elite law firm. Now the street smarts that have haunted him are about to become his best means of survival.

On an ordinary Sunday night, the body of one of his closest colleagues – and former lover – is found floating in Boston Harbor, her heart surgically removed from her chest. The once beautiful and ambitious Natalie Caldwell appears to be the seventh victim of “Little Jack,” the Jack-the-Ripper-style murderer terrorizing Boston. Police detective Linda Flaherty isn’t so sure. With Natalie’s death, Finn inherits a coveted, high-profile assignment that could clinch his career: one involving a terrorist bombing. But as Finn learns more about the circumstances surrounding Natalie’s death, the fabric of the life he has created begins to tear. Suddenly he finds himself the prime suspect in her murder.

Finn needs to save himself, and the only way is to dig into the secrets of Natalie’s life. Filled with more twists – and more dangers – than he could ever have imagined, this case will lead Finn and Flaherty from the crime-ridden streets of Charlestown to Boston’s courtrooms and morgues and from the gilded enclaves of the power brokers to the darkest recesses of a serial killer’s mind.

>> Read an excerpt