Dan Flanigan’s On Lonesome Roads is the third in a series of hardboiled detective thrillers set in the 1980s. The stories focus on the exploits of Vietnam veteran turned private investigator Peter O’Keefe and his hazardous run-ins with law enforcement and the criminal underworld during his investigations. As the story opens, O’Keefe is recovering from burns sustained in a car bombing. Police blamed the bombing on a felon from a previous O’Keefe case who had since died, so they stopped investigating. But O’Keefe decided to pursue the inquiry. He must now navigate some tricky waters, dodging the organized crime syndicate everyone believes is accountable, other felons and law enforcement officials. Tightly plotted and meticulously structured, this is a compelling crime thriller that makes excellent use of its 1980s context, a time when increased law enforcement was weakening the Mafia. It also employs superior character development to recount its tale of desperate detectives, warring gangsters, and obsessive law enforcement in Reagan-era America. Leaning fully into the moral complexity of neo-noir detective archetypes, Flanigan delivers a noble, intelligent, impulsive sleuth whose dysfunctional domestic life, post-traumatic stress disorder and propensity for attracting trouble yield a complicated, likeable personality. O’Keefe is surrounded by a delightful assortment of supporting characters who add texture to his world. There’s 11-year-old daughter Kelly, who embarks on her own investigation parallel to her dad’s; ambitious U.S. Attorney Russel Lord; morally questionable detective Lt. Steven Ross; and Mafia princess/femme-fatale Rose Jagoda Sciorra, with whom O’Keefe strikes up a perilous partnership. While the novel’s slow build might be off-putting to some readers, the sacrifice of narrative urgency in favor of character development and structural integrity ensures that readers are emotionally invested and that the novel’s surprises are satisfying and dramatic. This is an engrossing crime thriller that, despite being part of a series, easily stands alone. It’s highly recommended for Michael Connelly fans.

The further exhilarating adventures of an unbeatable detective, packed with tantalizing loose ends. In this third installment of a mystery series, a private eye takes on another dangerous case. After battling drug-smuggling operations and Mafia kingpins, the Vietnam veteran–turned–divorced gumshoe Peter O’Keefe returns to fight for his personal safety. Novelist and litigator Flanigan’s latest mystery picks up after the cliffhanger ending in The Big Tilt (2020), when the investigator was nearly blown to bits by a car bomb in late 1987. The action resumes three months later as a PTSD–saddled O’Keefe slowly heals from extensive “flash-fried” burns with no leads on a suspect, though the local Mafioso faction, the “Outfit,” “a nest of vicious killers and thieves,” seems like the plausible perpetrator. After media coverage of the bombing, folks from O’Keefe’s ex-wife to his landlord fear for their safety when he’s nearby. Joined by his investigative firm partner, George Novak, and a bomb-sniffing dog, O’Keefe pieces together minor clues but becomes “idiotically determined to poke his stick around in the Outfit snake pit.” The detective insinuates himself into the crosshairs of mob boss Paul Marcone, hoping to call a truce. But O’Keefe only stirs up a hornets’ nest of nefarious henchmen. Also hot on the Outfit’s trail is determined United States attorney and Senate hopeful Russell Lord, who’s dedicated to rooting out the faction after putting former crime boss Carmine Jagoda in jail. But after Jagoda’s sudden death and his likely successor’s mysterious disappearance, Lord fears a Mafia “dynastic succession” reshuffling could spur more violence. As O’Keefe draws closer to tailing the Outfit, Flanigan pumps up the suspenseful action, which has become a reliable facet of the series. Though the author’s mobster plot has more convoluted complexities than in previous mysteries, the story accelerates at a decent clip thanks to a wealth of well-developed characters, like Jagoda’s daughter, Rose, who is also the wife of the missing mobster; Marcone; and a bevy of crooked thugs. A murder, a shootout, and an incriminating audio recording ramp up the action, and despite a deadly snake bite, O’Keefe remains in top investigative form. An integral subplot involves his young daughter, Kelly, who morphs into a fierce, preteen supersleuth investigating her mother’s shady fiance. By the novel’s conclusion, Flanigan will capture readers’ hearts with hopes for a future O’Keefe family reunion. The further exhilarating adventures of an unbeatable detective, packed with tantalizing loose ends.

*Editor's Pick* Set at the tail-end of the Reagan era, the tense, character-rich third entry in Flanigan’s Peter O’Keefe detective series finds O’Keefe still reeling, physically and mentally, from a car bomb attack that caused severe burn damage. The likely culprits, local mobsters called The Outfit, are at large, and O’Keefe’s life is turned upside-down: since he’s still presumed to be a target, the neighbors want him out, and he can’t even visit his daughter without arranging for “maximum security.” But with a new friend—a retired police dog named Karma—and the determination to protect his family and business, O’Keefe sets out to prove a negative—that the Outfit didn’t do it. “The only hatchet that’ll get buried’ll be in your skull,” a police contact warns as O’Keefe sets out to make peace. Such sharp, playful dialogue and surprising choices from characters exemplify O’Keefe’s series, in which unpredictable people react to crime-novel events in a refreshingly realistic way, even as Flanigan never skimps on noir atmosphere, crisply rendered action, or pulpy surprises—this time, a reptilian attempt on O’Keefe’s life proves all the more jolting because the novel’s world feels so convincing. The tough talk from the heavies and the sleazy dreams of the proprietor of the Cherry Pink Gentlemen’s Club is as persuasive and engaging as O’Keefe’s domestic drama, which includes an ex eager to marry a new man, despite the daughter’s disgust. The novel’s length might deter readers who prefer crime tales tight, but O’Keefe again proves, over the pages, to be a compelling creation, especially when backed into a corner. Also strong is the assortment of friends, allies, and potential enemies, all characterized in quick, incisive strokes. (Paschal, “jailbird” and disappointed novelist, is especially good.) Their world of highways, an S&L crisis, and potholed industrial parks is expertly drawn. On Lonesome Roads is a polished thriller that builds to a satisfying but complex conclusion. Takeaway: Rich characterization and jolting surprises set this polished crime novel apart. Great for fans of: Matt Goldman, William Kent Krueger.