## Book Summary

Johnson City, Tennessee. 1955.

When respected scientist Barry Harkin is found murdered in his study, veteran homicide detective Jack Manson believes he is investigating another routine homicide. But as clues begin to surface, Manson discovers that Harkin was hiding a dangerous secret—one powerful enough to inspire murder, conspiracy, and a relentless hunt for anyone connected to it.

As the investigation deepens, Manson and his partner Roger York uncover a trail leading back to World War II, where dark secrets and unspeakable crimes were buried beneath decades of silence. With mysterious assassins closing in and bodies beginning to pile up, Manson finds himself racing against time to uncover the truth before more innocent lives are lost.

But Jack is fighting a battle of his own. Terminally ill and given only months to live, he refuses to step away from the job that has defined his life. Every lead could be his last. Every confrontation could be fatal.

Armed with little more than his instincts, determination, and an unwavering commitment to justice, Jack Manson plunges into a deadly mystery involving hidden manuscripts, wartime secrets, government agents, and killers willing to do anything to keep the past buried.

Originally written in the mid-1990s and restored from the author's surviving manuscript decades later,

*The Harkin Novel* is both the first completed novel by Tim Simpson and the very first adventure of Detective Jack Manson—the character who would go on to appear throughout the author's literary universe.

Some secrets refuse to stay buried.

Some mysteries refuse to die.

And some detectives never stop searching for the truth.