The Devil In the Clock by Harry Shannon
CreateSpace (May 2015)
236 pages, paperback $11.99, ebook $3.29
Reviewed by W.D. Gagliani
Back when I reviewed Memorial Day, Harry Shannon’s first Mick Callahan novel, I called it “a completely winning, engaging first mystery.” Further, I wrote: “Mick Callahan is no detective or cop. He’s no private dick. No, he’s a disgraced and defrocked television therapist – not your usual tough guy! Think a slicker, more photogenic Dr. Phil. But Shannon wisely hedges his bets and makes Callahan a washed-out Navy SEAL and one time kid boxer – enough pedigree for him to get into fights most of us would eagerly avoid.”
Well, in the time elapsed since that first Callahan novel, our hero has gone tougher and found himself running SEAL-like dark ops, either in service of a case or to get himself out of trouble. His journey to sobriety and redemption has been the arc of the series through three other novels (Eye of the Burning Man, One of the Wicked, and Running Cold), though of course serious obstacles have fallen across his path. His own violent past continues to catch up with him, as does the harm done to him when encouraged to use his fists for conflict resolution. He’s gone from amateur sleuth to avenging angel, and in this newest novel in the Callahan canon he is even more so, because the one thing in his life that grounds him is snatched violently from him even as he is about to make it permanent.
In one unexpected violent moment in a restaurant, a sniper cold-bloodily takes from Callahan the one thing that has kept him on an even keel. The murder rips Mick’s present and future away from him in the most brutal of ways, and his immediate fall is steep and painful. But then, a terrible self-destructive bender behind him, Mick reverts to his primal vindictive state, knowing his rage will only subside when he understands who the sniper intended to kill and why – and payback is meted out as justice. Aided in his quest as always by Hal (his wealthy Skype-connected AA sponsor), Bud Stone (old SEALs pal and secret government operative), and Jerry (the introverted but brilliant young hacker), Mick embarks on a process of elimination in trying to find the sniper and his target. As is often the case, the solution is close to home.
From its beginnings as a series leaning toward mystery to the current, more thriller-oriented noir crime direction into which it has evolved, Harry Shannon’s explorations of Callahan’s character and psyche have been nothing short of compelling and realistic. An alcoholic whose initial fall from grace was very public, Callahan has managed to evolve into an adept therapist… except that (like most of us) he can rarely take his own advice. In fact, his fallibility is what makes him such a compelling noir hero, a protagonist who suffers the slings and arrows but who feels their sting more than the usual two-dimensional creation. Plus he has developed into a sort of Reacher-style knight errant who can’t help himself from attempting to right the wrongs he encounters, especially when they involve innocents.
In this simply plotted but still very engaging revenge tale it’s the arc Callahan himself follows that provides the most interest. Author Harry Shannon (also co-writer of The Hungry horror series) wisely keeps his hero human enough to crave vengeance and yet, when it’s within reach, question himself for the craving. Or not, depending. Consider this a solid entry in a very entertaining and thought-provoking noir-leaning series.
