The Abduction of Patient Zero

Joey Mancuso, Father O'Brian Crime Mystery, Book 6

By: Owen Parr

Narrated by: Randy McCarten

In his sixth labyrinthine hard-boiled puzzler, NYC private eye Joey Mancuso finds himself neck-deep in a maze of a murder mystery - the kind that weaves through military secrets and international espionage - at the center of which is the woman he loves.

The vic Oscar Stanton (name etched into his designer trousers) was gunned down in Washington Square Park in broad daylight, just after a lunchtime rendezvous with a business associate. A quick and dirty ID reveals the real Oscar Stanton was working in cybersecurities for the DO and, perhaps unsurprisingly, was KIA in Afghanistan. And Mancuso’s antics tend to weave a winding yarn as intricately connected as a satisfying Sherlock Holmes.

Despite a recent drop in New York City’s crime rate, the PI business is booming for acutely astute investigator Joey Mancuso and his partner-in-solving-crime Father Dominic O’Brian (who happens to be his half-brother). So, it’s no surprise when Mancuso is called to the scene of a particularly gruesome and utterly confounding Lower Manhattan murder one otherwise pleasant afternoon.

As a complex white collar crime case unfolds with the usual barrage of infighting between the NYPD, CIA, FBI, and military intelligence, it becomes increasingly evident that despite personal ties to the case, Mancuso and his associates are Marcy’s only hope.

They must race the clock - and a likely well-connected killer, not to mention the intelligence forces the killer certainly has in his back pocket - to catch the FBI’s missing suspect and clear Marcy, before she’s falsely accused of espionage and murder or goes the way of the men surrounding her.

Who will like this: It's Matt Scudder meets Father Brown. Fans of both New York PI novels and police procedurals like those by Raymond Chandler, Joseph Wambaugh, Lawrence Block, and Rex Stout, and clerical mysteries will love this offbeat detective team. As will devotees of the greatest detective of all time - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

©2019 Owen Parr (P)2020 Owen Parr

Great read

I loved the story line. Performance is really good. Hard to determine who the bad guy is.

Narrator

Good narration. Little disappointed it wasn't the same as earlier books. But I love the books and hope he never stops writing them.

"From your lips to God 's ears."

Life was going well for Joey Mancuso. The murder rate in New York City had fallen slightly, the investigative agency he had opened with his half brother, Father Dominic O'Brien was doing well, their bar and smoking room was well attended, and he and his FBI agency wife of a year, Marcy, were expecting their first baby.
And then Marcy was charged with murder, or, rather, two murders. As the evidence against her mounts, she becomes ever more afraid. What was going on? was someone trying to frame her? How can Joey stop his wife and their unborn child from being sent to prison? After all, as he told her, "Orange is not your colour". Backed by his team, Joey sets out to find the actual killers - and who was behind the framing, and why?

An intriguing, fast paced conspiracy thriller with twists and surprising turns along the way with a logic which might even defy Sherlock Holmes, Joey's favourite fictional detective. The personalities of the main protagonists are well defined and are further enhanced by the excellent reading of Randy McCarten, who has individual voices for each character as well as being pace perfect with good modulated narration. His voice is also very pleasant to the ear. A fine performance.

I was very fortunate in being freely gifted a complimentary copy of The Abduction of Patient Zero, at my request, from the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. Thank you so much. This is the first of Owen Parr's Joey Mancuso and Father O'Brien Crime Mystery series and had no problems with missing background information despite this being book six other than there being a large number of protagonists needing to be remembered in the story. It's funny at times as the characters debate and generally feels authentic. A good read and recommended.

Superb entertainment

The Abduction of Patient Zero.
I loved this audio book couldn't put it down.
It has that wonderful feel of catching up with an old friend. While being told an intriguing tale.
The style is laid back and relaxed and moves along at a fair pace.
This book is now in my re read pile and I am sure to visit it again.
Highly recommend any book in the series.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this honest review. .

Not Bad

I was given this review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This is a book in a series, so if you like to follow characters you may want to listen to the others first. First I’ll say I don’t like cloak and dagger spy stuff, but being an ex cop I do like mystery/thriller/cop books. This was a pretty good story and I thought it was well written and the narrator was good. By the way Mr. Parr its zip tied, not zip locked.

Very Enjoyable!

The series is becoming more thriller & less mystery in a winning way! I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of books, especially this one because of an excellent new Reader!

The greatness continues!

I didn't listen to book five in this series (it's not available on Audible, as yet ) but I've listened to all of the others. There were also two different narrators for the earlier books but I think McCarten was an excellent choice for this one.

Joey and Father Dominic and the team had a serious mystery to solve. Marcy, Joey's now wife (happened in book five) was at the scene of a murder and through some clever master spy manipulations, Marcy is the prime suspect. Needless to say, Joey's not having that. And we were off!!!

The different angles and approaches to solving this crime is why Joey Mancuso is such a great character. (Way to go, Owen Parr!) This was a very enjoyable listen with a great narrator that really set things off.

Different Mystery

I totally enjoy these characters and their adventures. PI Joey Mancuso (ex-cop), 1/2 brother Father O’Brien and Patrick get into interesting cases with their unconventional ways while running bar/cigar business. It starts out with Marcy (Joey’s wife) an FBI agent getting setup for murders; Joey tries to clear her and several agencies are also involved all wanting patient zero from previous medical experiment. My heart goes out to Garcia. Highly recommend this series if you enjoy a thrilling suspenseful mystery. Keep them coming! I was given this free review copy audiobook by author and have voluntarily left this review. THANK YOU!

Entertaining Listen

I thought the story was fine. It held my interest and kept me listening!! Narration was great! Only flaw was a bit too slick of problem solving. Main character always seemed to know the answer. Fun but a little too neat.

Murder, Mystery and Military Subtrefuge

When his wife is framed for a murder in the park, Joey and his team swings into action and uncover a years old super soldier plan gone wrong in this well written who-dun-it an why story of international intrigue and American secret keepers.
This was my first story in this series and it works well enough as a stand alone that I had no trouble sorting out the team. What's more, I liked it well enough that I'm now interested in looking into more of the other stories in the series.