I’ll just say this right now. Jay Porter, the protagonist in Joe Clifford’s series, has to be one of the sorriest people in a mystery series. He’s alienated a number of friends, lost a business, lost a wife and son, all because he’s obsessed with taking down the Lombardi brothers. Now, in the fifth book in the series, Rag and Bone, he has nothing except a thirst for revenge.

Jay Porter is back in his hometown of Ashton, New Hampshire after a year off the grid. He’d disappeared because he had been wanted for murder. But, men had been arrested for the crime, so he thought it was safe to return. But, what’s he returning to? His ex-wife is remarried with a new baby. He lost his business, and the antiques he’d stored in a warehouse were sold for rent. He’s still obsessed with Adam and Michael Lombardi who he blames for the death of his addict brother. An old friend and former flame, Alison Rodgers, offers him some work around her place. Alison and her husband ran a drug rehab. Now, they’re divorced, and Alison sold the business to the Lombardis’ CCC, Coo County Center.

Porter’s convinced Alison was strong-armed into selling her business. He “knows” the Lombardis bribed judges to win support for their rehab, CCC. He also knows CCC was built on top of toxic dirt and the workers sickened and died.

To Jay Porter, everything wrong in Ashton can be laid at the feet of the Lombardi brothers. He’s searched for years for evidence of the Lombardis guilt. If Porter can’t find the evidence, there are still ways to prove the Lombardis coerced people, bribed judges, built on toxic soil. What does Porter have to lose?

I can tell I’m not the right audience for Joe Clifford’s Jay Porter novels. Although I’ve read and enjoyed some noir, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for a man who spends seven years seeking revenge, and loses everything in the process. But, when I look at the praise heaped on Clifford’s earlier books by David Morrell, Reed Farrel Coleman, and Robert Dugoni, I know there are other readers who will appreciate the gritty, depressing story of Rag and Bone.

Joe Clifford’s website is www.joeclifford.com

Rag and Bone by Joe Clifford. Oceanview Publishing, 2019. ISBN 9781608093267 (hardcover), 256p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.