The Night Watchman (Ray Quinn Series, Book 1)

`The Night Watchman' by Mark Mynheir features my kind of detective/hero. In a word, flawed. For me they are always the most interesting characters. Ray Quinn, the hero of this story, carries around enough anger and guilt to sink a battleship. Add to that his struggle to overcome a physical disability caused by a shooting that killed his partner and wounded Ray and you have one complex character. (oh, did I mention he has a drinking problem and is seriously depressed?) The title is derived from the fact that Ray is off the job on the police department and took a job as a Night Watchman while he recovers from his injuries. Ok, great setup. All that was needed was a great story. The Night Watchman gives you that in spades. Ray is pulled into a case involving a dead preacher, and an exotic dancer (what else?) that ultimately may solve the mystery of his own partners' death. Just a few chapters in I found myself admiring the authenticity of the characters in this book, especially Ray Quinn. No small wonder as the author is an honest to goodness real life police detective working out of central Florida. (you can't get much more authentic than that) As with any mystery, I felt I was being manipulated, being fed a few Red Herrings here and there, but it kept me turning the pages and I got lost in the book. There is something very genuine about this story, especially the dialogue. A cut above your standard police who-done-it. It is especially effective to have Ray Quinn working outside the force and sets things up for a really cool series of books. Count me in for now........

When I read the blurb - officer shot on duty; seamy underworld of strip clubs, corruption and murder; blah blah blah, I thought, "Hmm, titillating." When I found out the author was an active Orlando, FL police officer, I thought, "Well, maybe it'll bring some life, some verisimilitude if you will, to the old police procedural." And when I found out it was supposed to be a Christian novel, I groaned. But I picked it up anyway. I'm glad I did. Because this is a novel, epic in arc, complete with a flawed protagonist who changes and grows throughout the story. And, like the old epics, you're always getting the idea that maybe the divine hand is interposing, but it never gets in the way; it's part of the story. Ex-Detective Ray Quinn is not a likable guy. I doubt I'd want to have lunch with him. And the supporting cast of characters - Crevis, the gun-nutty aspirant cop; Pam, the Jesus freak who brings a mystery to be solved; Chance, the dirty strip club operator; and a whole host of cops - are all a bunch of abrasive city slickers. But I really enjoyed watching them work, as the author wove them into a plot that grows more complex and more convoluted by the page. And the climax hit me like a ton of lead - I was totally taken in by the setup, never saw it coming. Denouement was a little lumpy, but what are you going to do? Is Mynheir the second coming of Raymond Chandler? Probably not. He's a competent storyteller and prose stylist, but he never takes you to that next higher level the way Chandler at his best could do. But Quinn exudes the same rough-edged charm as Philip Marlowe. And Mynheir is still alive and writing. I'll take it.

This film noir-like novel offers realism (based on the author's experience) and the character reminds me of two of my favorite TV characters- Dr. House(walks with a cane and is not afraid to use it) and Monk(lost his loved one to an act of violence). I LOVE the sidekick in the novel who seems a little like Barney Fife. The author has an incredible authorial "voice". This is the first sentence in chapter 3: Crime scene tape is like flypaper for busybodies; the second you put it up, they all come buzzing around and stick to it.

Mark Mynheir is known primarily for his "Truth Chasers" series of books. "The Night Watchmen" is his latest novel and isn't officially a part of that series, though it actually could be. Ray Quinn is a homicide detective put out of commission due to a horribly violent incident that took the life of his partner. Now Ray works as a night watchman at a condo while hiding his pain in alcohol. But soon his life of hiding will end as an apparent murder-suicide in one of the condos throws Ray unofficially back into the role of detective. He must search for answers the cops want it buried. This story is a great thriller and works on many levels. The thing about Mynheir is his ability to make you care about his characters and see them as more than just words on a page. The surprisingly lonely life "beyond the badge" takes front and center here as we see Quinn fighting to solve the mystery while at the same time struggling to rise from his depression. Add a mysterious killer stalking him to the mix and you have a winning thriller. Highly recommended!

Don't be put off by the oxymoronic combination of genres here, because so help me, it works.This is a hard-boiled police procedural not totally unlike Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series in which you again have a conflicted protagonist. However, there is also a Christian theme interwoven here and as I said, it works in such a way that this isn't a preachy novel. You have a conflict of ideologies here as Ray Quinn, a disabled ex-police detective, is hired by the sister of a minister apparantly the perpetrator of a murder/suicide inolving himself and an exotic dancer to find the truth which she believes will show that her brother was framed.The novel is ndeed fast moving and as I indicated, the religious message is not shoved down one's throat but is, rather, presented as a sincere belief system in contrast to that of Ray Quinn.This is the first in Mynheir's "The Truth Chasers" series that I've read, and while I notice that the previous three haven't spawned sequels, this book definitely cries for a continuation so that we can follow the future lives of at least two if not three of the characters.