Reed Farrel Coleman, author of the Moe Prager PI series and Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series, introduces Gus Murphy, a retired Suffolk County, N.Y., police officer who now drives an airport shuttle for the Paragon Hotel in the town of Bohemia. Murphy, haunted by the unexpected death of his son from a hidden heart defect two years earlier, also lives in the dilapidated old hotel.
Tommy Delcamino, a low-level thief Murphy arrested while still on the force, pays him a visit to request help. Tommy's son, TJ, was tortured to death, and the police seem to be ignoring the murder, so Delcamino wants Murphy to look into it. Murphy explodes, thinking that the ex-con is trying to take advantage of Murphy's own personal tragedy. When Murphy later goes looking for Delcamino, intending to apologize for his behavior, he encounters two armed men, but they make their getaway and shoot Murphy in the leg before he finds the body of the elder Delcamino.
Still hesitant to investigate the murders, Murphy decides he needs to know why these men were killed. He had no answers, no one to blame for his son's death, and he thinks solving this case may help him heal. Instead, he opens a huge can of worms that just might kill him.
Sharp, clever dialogue, a dynamic cast of characters that represents a cross-section of Long Island cultures and an engaging plot keep Where It Hurts gripping and entertaining. Murphy's authenticity, his flaws and his complexity make him a character readers will eagerly anticipate in future books. An excellent beginning to a series with great potential. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts