From the acclaimed, international Thriller Writers Award finalist and author of Murder Board and Bleeding Blue, comes a searing case that will drive Detective Michael Kelly to the brink and make him question whether it’s the badge or blood that will push him over, once and for all.

“Brian Shea is the real deal,” (Steve Konkoly, USA Today best-selling author of the Ryan Decker Series)

Michael Kelly, Boston homicide detective, can’t seem to escape his tough Dorchester upbringing or the lifelong bonds it forged. When he's called to a church where a priest has been murdered, his bosses see a media circus in the making, but Kelly sees a connection between this victim and a cold case that he’s been trying to solve for years.

Closing one case might answer the questions that have haunted Kelly for almost his entire career and finally bring him a measure of peace.

But when the FBI gets involved, Kelly has to stay one step ahead by, again, relying on the streets where he grew up to provide him with answers.

Because, the priest was just the first step on an unrelenting path of vengeance, and this killer isn’t going to stop until his own twisted brand of justice gets served.

Brian Shea brings his background as a former detective to write propulsive, tautly plotted thrillers, and The Penitent One is his most intense book yet.

Fans of Connelly or Carson will become immediately engrossed with the streets of Boston and the detective who speaks for the dead, always at the risk of becoming the next body to fall.