5.0/5.0 Stars

THE OBSESSIONS OF HARVEY USHER – by David Putnam

‘At eighty years old, Harvey Usher lives a quiet, reclusive life, still grieving the loss of his beloved wife, Sylvia. But when a stunning redhead named Rita shows up, claiming to be his wife of two years, Harvey's carefully constructed world begins to crumble.

‘As Harvey struggles to expose Rita's deception, dark figures from his past emerge from the shadows, forcing him to confront the violent secrets he's kept buried for five decades.’

WOW—That Was An Awesome, Yet Heartbreaking Ride—HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

P.S. LOVE The Cover

Thank you, NetGalley and Level Best Books, for providing me with an eBook ARC of THE OBSESSIONS OF HARVEY USHER at the request of an honest review.

Eighty-three-year-old Harvey Usher is a recluse who still, after two years, mourns the death of his wife. When he finds a young woman inside his house who claims to be his wife, he’s sure that he’s being conned.

He calls the police to get her out, but this redhead ---whom Harvey dubs “Rita” after the screen siren Rita Hayworth--- shows them a driver’s license that states that this is her home.

The strength of the book lies in its layered narrative. Seamlessly shifting between 1968 and 2018, the story peels back the decades of Harvey's past—his life as an accountant for mob boss Luco LaBruzzo, and his deep love for a woman named Lois. Though LaBruzzo’s son also wants to marry Lois, this is just one of the dangers in Harvey’s life. He has also managed to acquire multiple enemies.

As we’re reading about “Rita”, we wonder if Harvey is of sound mind or if this stranger has ulterior motives. We also keep wondering how Harvey managed to escape his dangerous life in the underworld relatively unscathed.

Harvey, as well as the supporting characters are fully fleshed out, and we understand their motives. By the time the final twist arrives —and yes, there are several—it feels both surprising and inevitable.

A must-read for fans of crime fiction and psychological suspense, "The Obsessions of Harvey Usher" is a smart thriller that will keep readers engaged until the very end.

At 80 years old, Harvey Usher lives a quiet, reclusive life, still grieving the loss of his beloved wife, Sylvia. But when a stunning redhead named Delores (whom Harvey calls Rita since she reminds him of Rita Hayworth) shows up, claiming to be his wife of two years, Harvey's carefully constructed world begins to crumble.

Told in segments from the current day and from 1968, it's an entertaining novel with a bit of noir flavour but not really to my taste. There's much repetition and It seems to drag in places so that it seemed much longer than 315 pages. I was curious to find out Delores/Rita's story but didn't enjoy the whole book all that much. There's quite a bit of mob-related meanness and violence which isn't a trope I normally seek out. I'm a bit of an outlier on this one so check some of the more positive reviews if you're interested in the title.

Thank you to Lisa from Swell Media and to the publisher, Level Best Books, via Netgalley, for providing an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: July 8, 2025

This is a hard-boiled crime story full of quirky, dangerous characters trying to outwit one another. Even Harvey himself, although not exactly an anti-hero, is not above skirting the law when he needs to, although his reasons may be morally superior to those he is going against. The book reads like an action novel, and it is full of numerous acts of violence. Although some may enjoy this aspect, even those who wouldn't necessarily want to see violence right in front of them in the form of a TV show or movie, others may be disturbed by it and prefer to read something else.

I have read a few of Putnam's novels and have liked his detective ones. This one is quite different. The pace is very slow. There is not much action in the current timeline. There are many flashbacks to the 1960s when Harvey was an accountant for a mobster. There is some action in that timeline but it seems on the surface to not be connected to current events. In the end, we see how the events are connected and there are fun twists, right up to the last scene.

The characters were interesting but I never really felt engaged with any of them. The plot was not very exciting until near the end. It seems Putnam is experimenting with a new style of fiction. I liked this novel but I do not think it is Putnam's best.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Swell Media. My comments are an independent and honest review.

The Obsessions of Harvey Usher by longtime novelist David Putnam may not be for everybody, but it certainly is for me, and it is for my readers. Harvey Usher is an 80-year-old man who wakes up one night with a woman who appears to be old-time movie star, Rita Hayworth. But Rita insists that her name is Dolores and Dolores claims they have been married for two years. Naturally, Harvey is confused and calls the authorities; however, Dolores has identification proving that she is Dolores and has been married to Harvey. Finally, Harvey turns to a PI to help him prove what is happening here and see whether Harvey is being conned out of his money or just out of his mind. It gets interesting as people start to die for no apparent reason. When Harvey met his wife Lois, at the time, there was some connection to organized crime, this only adds seasoning to an intriguing and unpredictable mystery. David Putnam is a highly creative writer who creates novels with the best of them. It is with my full confidence that readers pick up The Obsessions of Harvey Usher by David Putnam and enjoy a twisty and unpredictable novel written by one of the genre's masters.

This book has a fun, quirky premise and a main character who’s equal parts cranky and compelling. The mystery is intriguing, but the plot tends to wander and the tone shifts can feel jarring. Still, it’s an entertaining read if you’re into slower, character-driven stories with a twist of chaos.

After reading a few chapters I found the story a bit confusing in the same way as was Harvey's mind, the past and the present are mixed up, he's mixed up after finding Delores/Rita making him breakfast in his kitchen. Was he allucinating? Was he suffering from dementia? Was everything a big scam? I also found it difficult to relate to Delores/Rita's character and even to Harvey's - was he really just a confused and lonely octagenarian?
I thank the author, his publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Obsessions of Harvey Usher explores one character’s deepest secrets—telling a tale of crime and obsession and love. It’s an entertaining crime thriller that will keep readers guessing until the end.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

Okay, wow. I knew I’d like this precious book, but I did not expect to absolutely love it. Harvey’s journey completely captivated me, and not just because of his first name. (It’s used so rarely in fiction that I can’t help but be drawn to a character named Harvey.) At once familiar and breathtakingly original, The Obsessions of Harvey Usher will make you smile while you’re crying. A masterpiece.

So here’s the setup: Harvey Usher is an octogenarian with a mysterious past, a questionable memory, and the energy of someone who’s just found out prune juice was spiked with adrenaline. Enter stage left: a woman claiming to be his wife. Harvey’s reaction? Somewhere between “Excuse me?” and “Who authorized this plot twist?”

David Putnam gives us a noir-tinged mystery wrapped in flashbacks, memory gaps, and more red herrings than a Scandinavian buffet. The dual timeline of Harvey Then vs. Harvey Now tries to build intrigue, but sometimes feels like dueling banjos played by amnesiacs. One minute we’re knee-deep in mob drama, the next we’re wondering if Harvey remembered to put on pants.

The premise is bonkers in the best way, and Harvey is… well, Harvey. He’s cranky, guilt-ridden, and allergic to straightforward answers. You want to root for him, even when he’s making you question whether this is a crime novel or a very intense episode of This Is Your Life.

The pacing stumbles, the plot occasionally wanders off like someone left the nursing home door open, and the flashbacks come at you like, “Surprise! Trauma!” But the bones of a really solid thriller are here but just wearing bifocals and occasionally yelling at clouds.
A messy, moody, slightly unhinged ride through one man’s haunted conscience and possibly imaginary relationships. Worth reading, but keep a flowchart and some ibuprofen handy.

Best enjoyed with: a stiff drink, a notebook, and zero expectations of chronological order.

This is a decent book with an interesting setup - an elderly widower (an interesting character) suddenly finds himself entangled in a strange relationship with a shady character, interesting to an extent and suddenly forced to confront memories from his criminal past.
Harvey the centre piece in this set-up is a compelling character and the mix of mystery and personal reflection gives the story some emotional weight.
But despite the interesting start, the plot feels a bit predictable at times and the writing doesn’t always strike the right tone wavering between sentimental and flat. This story overall did not work for me (not in my zone) but I still feel that there was enough material and zing here to keep me turning pages and going forward and completing the book.
Please do pick this one up if you enjoy quieter, character driven mysteries.

Headline: Unputdownable Psychological Thriller!

Book Review: The Obsessions of Harvey Usher by David Putnam
Published by Level Best Books, July 8, 2025

★★★★★ (4.5 Stars rounded up, Rave!)

Present Day.
Mission District, San Francisco, California

AN 80-YEAR-OLD WIDOWER wakes up one morning, ready for breakfast, only to find a stranger in his house, a woman claiming to be his wife of two years. Which just couldn't be, as the widower still loves his deceased wife, the better half of fifty wonderful, storybook years whom he'd tragically lost to cancer.

Readers are then treated to a narrative of five perplexing chapters seemingly straight out of random scenes from "Memento" (2000) and "Mulholland Drive" (2001), which, of course, are those blockbuster movies themed on amnesia by Hollywood icons, Christopher Nolan and David Lynch.

But I digress.

IT IS IN CHAPTER SIX that the book abruptly segues into an account of harrowing events five decades earlier, back to 1986, brought about by a rediscovery of an exchange of love letters hidden in the house. An exchange between a drop-dead young woman, and a love-struck geeky, slightly successful accountant.

It is also in Chapter Six that readers may get a bit overwhelmed as the "two Harveys" meet without much build up, the Harvey of the present and the Harvey of the past, the octogenarian and his younger self, with the narrative abruptly inserting hitherto unknown characters from the past.

REVIEWER'S TIP:
Read Chapter Five, Six and Seven TWICE to grasp the profundity of the author's plot.

// “You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car,
But because they sing a song only you can hear.” ― Oscar Wilde //

1986.
Hoboken, New Jersey

THE QUIET ACCOUNTANT called the "Ledger Man" knows where the money is hidden, where all the bodies are buried. Yet he'd never risen above his bottom-dwelling spot within the hierarchy of the Jersey mob, an organization in which he's constantly derided with far more vulgar variations of excrement. "Why kiss a Propeller-head", they'd sneer.

But the Ledger Man is smart, smart enough to invent a "candy bullet". Thereupon he earns his new moniker. He becomes the "Candyman".

He gets irreparably, bitterly entangled with his mob bosses over the loss of the woman he loves, whom they'd coerced to be tied in matrimony to one of their own. A bitterness he keeps to himself.

IT IS WHEN THE MOB pulls off a daring heist, the "Suisse Air Transport caper" that an idea emanates in the head of the despised pencil-pusing pushover. Privy to all things mafia, the lowly Ledger Man is held to account (on pain of death, at times) for cash, assets and liabilities, to balance the books, to audit stocks, inventories, to certify locations and storage. And in the one instance that matters, to ascertain the whereabouts and inventory of stolen gold.

Then the Ledger Man crosses over. ― And strikes!

He plans. He puts his "candy bullets" to good use. He subdues the punks. He grabs the booty.
Then he runs. Not alone, but with someone. Someone who'd turn out to be the love of his life.

The Ledger Man, himself, then known as Harvey Dortmund.

----------

Present Day.
San Francisco, Calif.

IT TAKES A LITTLE WHILE but 80-year-old Harvey Usher eventually finds out that Rita, the spousal impostor, had actually endeavored to help him fulfill his own lifetime's objective.

The elimination of the bane of his existence. To be forever free of the Mob. Free of Jackie the Nose. Free of the LaBruzzo family.

Then keep possession of that one thing he'd filched from his mob bosses. Apropos, the Suisse Air Transport heist.

----------

Quite an unexpected, finely-crafted Class-A psychological thriller from author David Putnam, the creator of the highly compelling, eleven-book "Bruno Johnson" series (2014-2024), an incomparable police procedural spanning continents, imbued with uplifting themes of hope and redemption.

David Putnam parlayed his years of law enforcement into the palpable realism of his police procedurals and suspense thrillers. Inter-alia, he was with the real Hawaii Five-O, a narc, on an FBI-sponsored team, with a SWAT team and has supervised corrections, patrol, and a detective bureau.

And now, an unputdownable psychological thriller!

Review based on an advance review copy courtesy of Level Best Books and NetGalley.

The Obessions of Harvey Usher is a book like no other. With a quirky and adorable main character and a shady hot bombshell with a secret, it was such a fun read you won'twant to miss !!! 💫💫💫💫💫


Harvey's story goes back into the past and shows us a glimpse of his choices and a few misdeeds. It also tells the beautiful love story between him and the love of his life, Sylvia. The story is so entertaining and packed with humor, bad decisions, twists, and some violence that makes this story truly fun and entertaining.
Thank you, Netgalley and Level Best Books/IBPA, for this ARC. All opinions are entirely my own.

The story in a few words:

At eighty years old, Harvey Usher lives a quiet, reclusive life, still grieving the loss of his beloved wife, Sylvia. But when a stunning redhead named Rita shows up, claiming to be his wife of two years, Harvey's carefully constructed world begins to crumble. Then starts a cat and mouse game where long buried truths come to light. What true motives does Rita have? Harvey must decide who he can trust….

My thoughts:

I was very intrigued at first and enjoyed how tense and clever the plot was. But as it progressed it grew repetitive and dragged a lot. The dual timelines of past and present with change in the characters name simply added confusion. Around page 100 I was totally bored, this story had lost my interest and never regained it. Even with the sluggish pacing and the lack of clarity I managed to lumber along and eventually make it to the very last word. “ouf” I made it….

Do misdeeds from the past comes back to haunt you? Was Rita a Trojan horse place by Harvey’s enemies? Was Harvey suffering from dementia and fooled by a charming temptress? I leave it to you to find out.

A final note:

Some reviewers acknowledged that overall story was strong and kept them engaged. The mix of crime, personal history, and emotional depth had resonated well with them. Maybe you will feel the same?

This moves on dual time lines to tell Harvey's story and that of the women in his life. I gotta admit that I got confused-there's Delores who Harvey calls Rita and his first wife Sylvia/Lois and then there's other things that are clearly meant to make you wonder about Harvey's mental status. This had potential but it lost me and I DNF. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to others.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this delightful eARC.

I wanted to mention, I especially LOVED this book's gorgeous cover; which immediately grabbed my interest!

David Putnam's The Obsessions of Harvey Usher is a wonderful thrill ride of a book, and I loved the interplay between Harvey and "Rita" (apparently Harvey's wonderfully seductive 2nd wife who he forgot - just READ THIS BOOK). Putnam dares to explore the tender landscape of lost love (lost due to death) as well as organized crime and it's endless resources. The result is a noir-tinged character study that reads like a classic yet humorous mob story as well as a profound love story - with a mirror held up to the soul.

Rather than coasting on plot twists or action sequences alone, Putnam crafts a story that moves inward as it moves forward...

Harvey Usher—a former numbers guy for the mob who is haunted by personal loss and burdened by moral ambiguity—serves as a vessel for themes of love, friendship, and honor. Harvey has a compulsion to chase the truth even when it can be deadly.

Readers familiar with Putnam’s earlier Bruno Johnson series may expect grit, but here it’s more internalized. This novel is paradoxically layered—like a minimalist painting you realize is full of haunting brushwork the longer you stare.

Putnam’s prose is clean and direct—almost surgical in its precision. There’s little wasted motion in the storytelling, which makes the story quickly move forward. The dialogue crackles, with flair, levity, emotion and humor which is typically evident in Dave's books (just one reason for his loyal fan base). The pacing is deliberately atmospheric: not sluggish, but meditative, like descending a staircase into a forgotten basement.

Harvey’s "obsessions" go beyond a single issue—they're metaphorical specters. He becomes a character navigating the blurred boundaries between justice and vengeance, self-preservation and self-destruction. In a genre that often fetishizes resilience, The Obsessions of Harvey Usher is bold enough to interrogate the fragility of aging.

Putnam also weaves in questions about legacy, responsibility, and whether people can truly atone for their pasts—or if they can only learn to carry them with a little more grace.

The Obsessions of Harvey Usher is a quiet storm of a book—powerful in its restraint and devastating in its emotional honesty. It’s the kind of crime novel that lingers because of its expertly crafted humanity. For readers who crave thrillers with existential weight, this one delivers a descent into moral complexity.

If you enjoy works by Don Winslow or books with the psychological nuance of Tana French, you’ll likely find Harvey Usher a worthy companion. I loved it, I am a huge fan of David Putnam, and this is my favorite book of his to date! I am buying multiple copies for family members as soon as it is released.

The Obsessions of Harvey Usher by David Putnam is a recommended thriller set in two timelines.

Harvey Usher, 80, is shocked when he wakes up and a young Rita Hayworth look-a-like named Dolores is making him breakfast. Harvey's beloved wife of 50 years, Sylvia (Lois) passed away years earlier. Now Dolores, who he starts calling Rita, is claiming they've been married for two years. She is concerned that he is losing his memory, and lovingly continues to care for him.

First Harvey calls the police, but Dolores has a driver's license with her married name and address as well as a marriage license. The police are wondering if Harvey needs to go into long term care. Then Harvey turns to his neighbor, Esther, and a PI named Eddie Gurski to help him prove who Rita is so he can determine what con game she is playing. Things get much more complicated when people start dying.

The plot unfolds in two timelines, 1968, when Harvey met Lois, and the present. There is a connection with organized crime dating back to the 1960s timeline. Events become complicated when past actions come forward years later and it is difficult to know who he can trust. There are some exciting moments and twists along the way. The narrative starts out intriguing but then began to lose my full interest when events from the past began to unfold.

I never really liked Harvey or any of the characters in the novel, which did make it difficult to care about what was happening in either timeline. Those who appreciate organize crime novels may like this one more. Thanks to Level Best Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

I was pleased to receive an early edition of The Obsession of Harvey Usher from NetGalley and the publisher. I had read and enjoyed six books by its author, David Putnam, and some scored a high 5-star rating from me. This book had an intriguing premise, but I was disappointed. I struggled with the past storyline and the alternate names of the main characters. I am not a fan of stories involving organized crime and its violence, and the changing names made it confusing, resulting in the characters being less engaging. I regret that I failed to finish and continued skimming the pages.

The protagonist is Harvey Usher, age 82. He has led a quiet, reclusive life since his long-time marriage ended when his wife died. One morning, he finds a gorgeous younger woman in his house, busily making his favourite breakfast. She is stunning, resembling Rita Hayworth. She insists they were married a couple of years ago, refusing to leave when Harvey tries to evict her. She expresses concern that Harvey is losing his memory. Refusing to admit that his memory is failing, he believes she is part of a scam. She can produce a marriage certificate and other ID items. Are they forgeries, and why would anyone plan such an elaborate fraud when Harvey is not financially secure? What is she after?

A friendly neighbour put him in touch with a troubled man acting as a private detective. He is tasked with determining her identity, past life and associates. This is difficult for the so-called detective who cannot be out at night and must use the computer in the library. Harvey is being charged $500 per day fr the investigation, which he can barely afford. When Harvey called the police to order 'Rita' out of his home, they believed that, as his wife, she belonged there and suspected that Harvey might need institutional care.

While I found the early part of the book tense, clever, and puzzling, I did not enjoy the latter part, which attempted to explain the mystery. Unfortunately, the book was not for me, but I am in the minority here. Other readers may enjoy it more than I did.The date for publication is July 8/2025.

A darkly intriguing psychological study. The pacing was uneven, but the central character’s descent was haunting and well-drawn. Creepy without being over-the-top. A compelling look at obsession, secrecy, and unraveling minds.