Margins
Donovan and Son book cover
Donovan and Son
2006
First Published
3.25
Average Rating
249
Number of Pages

Part of Series

Legendary NYPD homicide detective Bill Donovan has retired so he can devote all his energy—and world-famous detective skills—to finding the elusive scientist who might cure the paralysis that confines his beloved ten-year-old son to a wheelchair. As Donovan & Son go off together on their quest, they find themselves in the sub-basement of the prestigious Riverside University library. And the first thing they find is a dying man whose last word, "mercury," diverts them into an explosive dark secret from the university's past. Donovan then rediscovers some of his own past and many of his old friends—including the notorious lover whose appearance in his life a quarter century earlier helped launch the career that brought him fame and wealth.
Avg Rating
3.25
Number of Ratings
8
5 STARS
25%
4 STARS
25%
3 STARS
13%
2 STARS
25%
1 STARS
13%
goodreads

Author

Michael Jahn
Michael Jahn
Author · 15 books

I'm a reporter, photographer, and professional novelist. A newspaperman's son, I began my daily newspaper career at The New York Times, where I was hired in 1968 to cover the music beat (folk, blues, and rock), making me the first full-time rock journalist for major media. That made me well-enough known (or notorious, maybe) so that a few years on I switched to writing fiction, mostly detective novels, and have published 50 books, one of which won the prestigious Edgar Award. In reviewing "Night Rituals" (1982), the New Yorker wrote that "Jahn writes with a flourish that is entirely his own." And they didn't say "and he can keep it too" so I've been using that quote ever since. Right now (2012) I'm publishing Kindle editions of my critically acclaimed Bill Donovan Mysteries, which I published from 1982 to 2008. Up so far: "Murder in Coney Island," "Murder in Central Park," "Murder on Theatre Row," "Murder on the Waterfront," and "Murder at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine" (originally published as "City of God"). My Edgar winner, "The Quark Maneuver," also is up in Kindle. I've begun writing a memoir, not so much of me but of my very unusual ancestors, who had this Forest Gumpian ability to find themselves standing next to fame or infamy. An ancestor on the Spanish side, a sailor, went to Japan with Perry, fought in the Civil War under Farragut (and, I like to think, was the man the Admiral was thinking about when he hollered "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead!"), and later helped rescue a man-eating meteorologist who was frozen in the Arctic ice. My newspaperman dad survived a car chase with Dutch Schultz and drank bourbon on a transcontinental train with Harry Truman. I'll write about all this stuff. Wouldn't you? The working title is "Told to Me by a Sailor who Died (I'll Never Know if the Bastard Lied)." I live in New York City.

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved