Hathaway | The Novel
Love and loss were constant realities for millions of Americans in the years during and surrounding World War II. Hathaway is a novel about how one American lived with and confronted those experiences. Halo Hathaway, a Baltimore-based private detective, faces professional challenges, personal misfortune and, as he see it, a world that has lost its sense of morality. Set in Maryland and Europe during World War II the story spans the decade from 1938 through 1947.
A Lincoln, Nebraska police officer, Hathaway leaves the Midwest for Baltimore in the spring of 1938. On the train ride east he falls in love with a beautiful Irish girl, Maighread O'Leary, who travels with him to his new home before she returns to her teaching post in Paris. After her departure Hathaway develops a solid reputation as a private investigator while also meeting and making new friends who become the closest of his life. The German invasion of France in May of 1940 threatens Maighread's security and is the first in a series of events that change Hathaway's outlook on life. That same year an octogenarian philanthropist who benefits Black students and institutions hires the detective to investigate the embezzlement of funds from his foundation. Together they discover that the missing money is being used to finance hate crimes against civil rights leaders. With the help of a local Black detective and two resourceful Richmond police officers Hathaway identifies the criminals and brings them to justice. In the process, however, one of his compatriots is slain during a confrontation with the criminals.
When the United States enters World War II Hathaway enlists in the army and is commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. By the end of the war he has reached the rank of Lt. Colonel, an advancement that comes at the cost of hundreds of men under his command. While recovering in Paris from wounds suffered in the Battle of The Hürtgen Forest in the fall of 1944 he discovers that Maighread was captured and deported by the Gestapo only months before. At the close of the war he witnesses the brutality and inhumanity of Buchenwald when his battalion liberates that concentration camp. Upon his return to the United States Hathaway learns that his best friend, Randy Marlowe, has been killed in the Pacific. Hathaway and Randy's widow Alexis begin to rely on each other to combat their depression and sorrow, although they realize theirs will never be a lasting relationship. While Alexis gradually recovers, Hathaway continues to suffer emotionally and mentally from his wartime experiences. His enthusiasm for life is gone and he falls into the monotonous routine of working only the simplest of insurance fraud cases.
A double homicide at the Naval Academy forces Hathaway to reexamine both his professional and his personal lives. Assistant Annapolis Police Chief Tom Furillo asks for his assistance. Furillo knows how sharp Hathaway's skills were before the war and needs his help because of the limited manpower of his department. The same day Furillo asks for his assistance Hathaway meets Cathy Revell. These new circumstances compel Hathaway to face his personal demons as well as a group of killers who threaten him and the lives of those closest to him.