Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Forever Haunt
SERIES: Jimmy McSwain Files #5
AUTHOR: Adam Carpenter
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 9 hours, 58 minutes
RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2020
BLURB:
Fifteen years ago, NYPD officer Joseph McSwain was gunned down while trying to stop a robbery. His murder was never solved. Until now.
For his son, Hell’s Kitchen private detective Jimmy McSwain, his father’s death has defined him, defied him, and denied him his chance at happiness. But the shooting death of a young officer named Denson Luke has reignited the investigation into the mysterious Blue Death conspiracy. Jimmy still must earn a living, so he cannot ignore a family in distress. New neighbors Carmen Ramirez and her young son, Sonny, are clearly running from danger.
Overnight, their case becomes one involving a missing father, a Chinese crime syndicate, and an abduction which threatens to overwhelm Jimmy’s mission of solving his father’s case. His relationship status with Frank Frisano on and off again, Jimmy tries to do double duty, jeopardizing his own safety. It’s only when another murder occurs that Jimmy finally finds the path that has eluded him.
His investigation finally leads him back home, where a devastating family secret overshadows all he’s learned, and the cost to the McSwain family may never be repaid. Jimmy realizes the blood on his hands will forever haunt him.
REVIEW:
It’s been almost fifteen years and the time has finally come for Jimmy to find the truth about his father’s murder. The threads that has slowly been unravelling for the past four books finally comes to an end, we see how they are connected, what truths have been hidden. Many of them Jimmy, or the reader, didn’t see coming. Some things he thought he knew were re-examined in a new light and with new eyes.
This is a book of tragedies. The web uncovered held so many secrets and so many tragedies, one following the other. How seemingly unrelated events, some innocent caused a cascade of events echoing throughout time and across families causing sorrow and destruction. For some time now we’ve known that the Forever Haunt case was part of something bigger. It wasn’t a simple robbery gone wrong. And the closer Jimmy got to Blue Death the higher the stakes got. There were so many suspects and players and all of them seemed suspicions at one point or another. I think that’s what I loved about this mystery. It was never straight forward. The solution wasn’t obvious and there were many layers and twists. One twist especially I did not see coming, and it’s one that I’m still reeling from. It was unpredictable and liked that.
Ever since we first met Jimmy we’ve known his tenacity of getting the truth, knowing he’d stop at nothing to see justice done. The amount of people he goes after in this book is staggering, especially knowing the power behind said people and it’s not risk free. If it’s one thing that this book really hammers home it’s that the truth comes at a cost and to make damned sure you are willing to pay the price for it, because it might just be too steep. It will be interesting to see where Jimmy will go next, how the truth will change him and his family dynamic.
Joel Leslie did this book credit. Jimmy’s need to finally solve the Forever Haunt case could be heard in every word and in every interaction Jimmy had, as was the excitement at every clue that got him one step closer to his goal. I loved how his myriad of voices kept all the characters separate from each other, they helped set the tone of the book get a feel of the place and people. The last chapter was by far the one that most gripped me, it was raw and emotional and I fully admit to shedding more than one tear. I can’t wait to listen to more.
This book was everything the build-up promised it to be. While I’m happy to finally have the answers I’m also left questioning if the truths had were worth the price that had to be paid for them…
Highly recommended, though start from the beginning to get the full impact of it.
RATING: 
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