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Michael McGarrity, a former deputy sheriff, brings an insider's perspective to this dynamic, character-driven story, a hard-hitting blend of police procedural and edge-of-your seat thriller. Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney has big plans for his vacation, but everything goes on hold when his friend, a prominent gay attorney, is murdered. The shocking crime is just the beginning, though. Next, the horse Kerney trained and cared for is viciously slaughtered, a former colleague is found murdered, and someone delivers poisoned rats to Kerney's home along with a horrifying note explaining that the killer's real target is Kerney himself. But, the note says, the chief must suffer before Everyone Dies….
The New York Times
Michael McGarrity is one of those low-key pros who keep the genre honest with realistic crime stories and plain-talking cops who know the procedures. The virtues of this down-to-earth style are on view in Everyone Dies, No. 8 in a solid series set in New Mexico and braced by Kevin Kerney as the chief of the Santa Fe Police Department.
— Marilyn Stasio
Publishers Weekly
The questions and concerns of relationships, both everyday and extraordinary, personal and professional, lie at the heart of McGarrity's ninth entry in his Kevin Kerney series of police procedurals (The Big Gamble; Tularosa; The Judas Judge). Kerney, chief of the Santa Fe police force, and his wife, Sara Brannon, pregnant and due to give birth at any moment, have just begun a much needed vacation. Sara is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Military Police and will be assigned to the Pentagon just six weeks after the baby is born-a career move that Kerney opposes. A vicious killer slashes his way into the midst of this family crisis, beginning by shooting a Santa Fe lawyer, and in quick succession murdering Kerney's beloved horse, a forensic psychologist and a probation officer. It doesn't take long for Kerney to realize that his entire family has been targeted, especially after the killer begins leaving messages that say, "Everyone Dies." Area law enforcement personnel rally around the chief and begin a massive investigation. The large and varied supporting cast is sometimes difficult to keep straight, but McGarrity's fondness for his characters is evident, as is his love for the harsh but beautiful mountain and desert landscape they inhabit. Readers familiar with the series will be happy to settle back with the chief, his complicated family and the men and women of the department for another enjoyable installment. Major ad/promo; 20-city author tour. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney stars in the eighth entry (after The Big Gamble) in this popular crime series, set in New Mexico. Kerney is planning to take a few weeks of vacation to spend time with his very pregnant wife, who is on leave from her army duties, and to oversee the building of their new house. A serial killer has different ideas, however, and the events he sets in motion with the murder of a popular defense attorney involve dead pets, ominous messages in blood ("everyone dies"), and increasingly macabre killings that pull the murderer's intricate noose tighter and tighter around Kerney and his family. This tautly woven narrative is not for the faint of heart; as the tension builds, the plot's twists and turns involve some brutal and disturbing scenes. McGarrity's trademark use of the magical New Mexico landscape remains an integral part of the narrative. Highly recommended for most popular fiction collections.-Ann Forister, Roseville P.L., CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Another impeccable outing from the master of the small-city procedural (The Big Gamble, 2002, etc.) Santa Fe's the small city, Kevin Kerney its estimable police chief, a man of strong convictions, strong feelings-sensitive, yes, but sufficiently draconian when the situation warrants. Now, however, he finds himself stalked by a relentless sociopath bent on vengeance for acts of aggression he chooses not to specify and Kerney can't imagine. The decorated war veteran, famously cool under fire, would never be unduly disturbed by threats aimed solely at him, but his heart does flip-flops when he reads a note that says: "Kerney, can't wait to meet the wife. See you soon." Found near the corpse of a woman horribly murdered, it refers ominously to Sara Brannon Kerney, days away from delivering their child. A horse Kerney lovingly trained is slaughtered; the house owned by Clayton Istee, Kerney's son, is booby-trapped, blown to bits; the hospital where Sarah's confined is scarily penetrated. Corpses pile up, the investigation heats up, but the avenger is not only clever but also well informed about cops and the ways an unwary perpetrator can play into (or a savvy one remain tantalizingly out of) their hands. At length, of course, the Kerneys and their would-be killer meet face-off in a denouement as sudden and violent as it is satisfying. Warning to the fainthearted: Every thirty pages or so your mouth may go dry. Author tour
