Dead or Alive: A Kevin Kerney Novel

The narrative alternates between the vicious crimes of spree killer Craig Larson and the efforts of the cops who are chasing him. Kevin Kearney wants Larson, dead or alive, for killing his young business partner. Kearney’s Apache son Clayton Istee wants Larson, dead or alive, for shooting and paralyzing the sheriff he works for and admires.Larson kills when he steals a new vehicle for a getaway. He kills when he needs a place to crash. He rapes and kills for the fun of it. And he takes a special joy in killing cops. The intense manhunt for Larson in forests and on mountains is thrilling. Clayton’s tracking skills come in handy, as do Kearney’s strategic skills.Larson has a twin brother who is slow-witted but good-hearted. The interactions between the good and bad twin are rather touching. The family lives of Kearney and Clayton also enrich the story.Kearney is only visiting his New Mexico ranch in this book. He gets temporarily deputized and pulled into the action because he can’t resist helping with the manhunt.Dead or Alive is masterfully plotted and totally riveting. I never want this series to end.

Read it during my holliday in France.Intriging plot

Mcgarity is a good author with many good books in the series, but this one is a stinker. From the unrealistic serial killer manhunt to the writers penchant for labeling Republican county commissioners as racist it’s unclear what audience he thought he was appealing to. Church goers are cults, but Apache wisdom is sacrosanct. Rich people buying ranches are bad, but his hero is a rich guy who buys a fancy ranch. But he’s different because he really, really cares about the land. He characterizes many cops as bad…lazy, corrupt or stupid, but his hero and the heroes son are both cops who swoop in to save the day using the same questionable tactics he criticizes in the book. His serial killer characters’ actions are a bridge too far also. The rape scenes are unnecessary and crude (I’m no prude, but this stuff is despicable), add nothing interesting to the plot and had me throwing the novel into the trash after reading it. A truly worthless book in a pretty darn good series. I’d skip this one and move on. Hopefully the next one gets back to what he’s done best…crime thrillers…without the idiotic plot and unnecessary rape scene descriptions.

Dead or Alive is another great Michael McGarity novel in the Kevin Kerney series. As with the other books in the series, the Kerney Family Saga and detective keeps the rearder's interest peaked in non stop action and story line from start to finish. These novels in the entire series keep evolving with past events and family ties back to the beginning of Southwest New Mexico History. I would recommend that readers wishing to gain a full perspective on the Kerney Family Saga read The Kerney Family Trilogy as a precursor to the Kevin Kerney 12 Novel series. It will give the reader full insight into the references Michael McGarity makes to Kevin Kerney Family history and where he evolved from the true cowboy days of New Mexico in the 1800s. As a reader, I anxiously await the next book in the Kevin Kerney series slated for release in 2018. There has been a long dry spell since Dead or Alive.

I like the author Michael McGarrity. I have not yet read this book.

5 stars plus consistently! I would give 6 if I could. Michael McGarrity only seems to get better with each novel. Several investigations under way as this novel becomes more focused on stopping the very bad man running loose in upstate New Mexico. I once lived in Santa Fe and very much enjoy the locale of these novels but that enjoyment would have run out after Tularosa were it not for the continuing good crafting of steadily developing and page-turning stories of good (and bad) police work. Can't wait to begin his next novel.

I have read all the Kevin Kesey novels by Michael McGarrity, in sequence. One thing I have not liked is his decision to have Kesey marry and have a son, then follow said wife off to London. I felt it jerked the reader (and the protagonist) out of the milieu and the genre. Therefore I was happy in this most recent novel to have him back on his home turf, partnered with his son (and the two do make a dandy pair!), with the wife and the little kid thankfully shunted into the background. I'm sure it won't stay that way, if indeed McGarrity pens another novel in the series, since this one ended with his return to London to be with the family. But I sure wish he'd find some way to write them out of the story and let Kesey remain in the Tularosa basin.

I enjoy the stories of Kevin Kerney set in the beautiful southwest. His investigative work brings to light an involved plot and a picture of a family meeting the challenges of life. Good reading. Hard to put down.

Grossartig - wie alle Kerney Novels! Waiting impatiently to the next one to be published. Thank you McGarrity. You‘re a great guy.