A local author’s new crime thriller explores the history and myths surrounding the mysterious Hart Island.
Residing in Country Club, retired NYPD detective and self-published author Mike Monahan recently published his fourth novel.
In ‘The Treasure of Hart Island,’ south Bronx Detective Squad detective Mick ‘Micko’ O’Shaughnessy returns in a pulse-pounding thriller set on the isolated titular island harboring an ancient secret.
Its lore states that centuries ago privateer captain William Kidd wanted for piracy stashed his treasure somewhere on the 101-acre island northeast of City Island.
Present day Hart Island is a potter’s field for more than one million destitute New Yorkers with each grave dug by Rikers Island convicts.
When a group of convicts unearth the first clue to the treasure’s location, they find themselves in a dangerous race for the coveted riches.
The prison guards aren’t exempt from avarice as these disparate groups soon compete for the gold causing more death, danger and mayhem for the cursed island.
Micko gets swept into the maelstrom while working a case of a van load of dead prisoners, the first casualties in the battle of Kidd’s cache.
The detective will need to study Kidd’s own history in order to survive the conflict ahead.
Monahan’s adventure blends historical figures with present-day action establishing an edge-of-your-seat thriller about the true price of greed.
His additional works include the previously released ‘Barracuda’ crime thriller/horror trilogy.
Monahan utilizes his police work experience and aquatic hobbies as literary inspirations.
“I’ve been kayaking around Hart Island for over 20 years,” shared Monahan. “Everyone in the Bronx has heard of this island which is why I wanted to write a story centered around it.”
His novel opens with historical facts about the island before delving into its fictitious depiction.
A Meet the Author event with Monahan is on Saturday, July 29 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Wicked Wolf Restaurant and Bar on 4029 E. Tremont Avenue.
A Parkchester native, Monahan continued the family legacy established by his father and grandfather by becoming a police officer in 1973.
Serving in the 42nd Precinct from 1973 to 1979 and the 52nd Precinct from 1979 to 1993, he earned the prestigious gold NYPD Detective Shield in the late 1980s.
The St. Raymond High School for Boys Class of 1969 alum said he was inspired to become an author after investigating homicides and completing over 100-pages of reports.
A New York’s Finest Divers member, Monahan advanced his literary passion by penning informative articles about shipwrecks he explored in the northeastern United States, Australia, Japan and Guam.
Monahan was Divemaster certified in open water diving, deep diving, ice diving, wreck diving, night diving, underwater navigation, underwater photography and search and rescue.
Upon retiring from the force, Monahan worked as an International Police Task Force captain in Bosnia, a United Nations liaison officer, in the various army units assigned as part of a Multi-National Peacekeeping Force and a private investigator for several years.
The Treasure of Hart Island is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.
