Middleman - by Brendan Flaherty (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Struggling with work and fatherhood, Jake Flynn is forced to make an impossible choice when an eccentric, sordid con artist ropes him into a mausoleum heist that could cost him more than he bargained for

As an overworked and underpaid remote worker for a tech company, Jake Flynn feels stuck. His aging parents need care, his young children need attention, and his burnt-out wife needs support. With his boss hounding him at all hours of the day and the seemingly never-ending debts rolling in, Jake is struggling to stay afloat.

When his family moves into their new rental on the other side of their small New England town, his new neighbors only add to his stress. There's Edwina, the town historian with an increasingly strange newsletter and a secret bubbling at the surface. Her son, Eddie, is a greasy con-man hungry for easy money and with a long-simmering desire for vengeance against Jake's family. And then there's Trevor, a lonely 15-year-old desperate to prove his incarcerated father's innocence but winds up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At the center of their odd little town, there's an old cemetery with three mausoleums, each locked up with breathtaking treasures and horrifying secrets of the past. Unable to resist temptation, Eddie concocts a scheme to rob the dead: and he manipulates Trevor and Jake to help pull it off.

Middleman presents an atmospheric and unsettling account of a heist gone wrong and the damning secrets unleashed because of it.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Dredge:

"Flaherty writes with stealthy acuity, his prose seemingly simple yet full of coiled power."--Sarah Weinman, The New York Times

"[The Dredge] is deep in characterization and entertaining in its narrative; it makes a very philosophical point about how well we are aware of those we consider ourselves close to and how time changes them."--Toni V. Sweeney, New York Journal of Books

"Flaherty deftly conjures up an atmosphere of dread and suspense, with all roads leading to the pond, and all concerns pointing toward what lies at its bottom. This is an assured, compulsively readable debut."--Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads

"In this accomplished debut mystery, Flaherty revitalizes the familiar trope of old secrets threatening to resurface with sinewy prose and well-tooled suspense."--Publishers Weekly

"How these well-drawn traumatized characters and their secrets collide in the present day, permanently changing the course of their lives, is the theme of Flaherty's beautifully written debut . . . this sad novel about the corrosive effects of family trauma and pain will linger in readers' minds."--First Clue Reviews

"The intense story dramatizes how the past always shapes and determines the main characters' quotidian existence and mental activities. An ambitious, splendid debut."--Ha Jin, National Book Award winning author of Waiting

"It's clear that Brendan Flaherty is not here to f*ck around. With his debut novel, The Dredge, he catapults us right away into dark family dysfunction with tight, athletic prose reminiscent of seasoned masters like Elmore Leonard and Harry Crews."--Brian Panowich, International Bestselling Author of Bull Mountain and Nothing But The Bones

About the Author

Brendan Flaherty is from outside Hartford, Connecticut. He went to Washington University in St. Louis, and received his MFA from Boston University. He lives with his wife and two sons. Middleman is his second novel, following his debut, The Dredge.