Review-The Blue Rat

On its surface,The Blue Rat, by Michael Hartnett, is the story of an immoral real estate magnate, bent on stamping his name across New York through odious and ugly buildings, blighting the landscape of Manhattan, and those fighting to preserve the beauty and history of a city they cherish.

Leading this fight is El Buscador, aka the Tour Guide, a man lost to sorrow yet immutably tied to the history, pathos, and joy of being a New Yorker. A renowned repository of the history and underside of greater gotham, he is joined by a gallery of characters from a young reporter, Pratt, going a little too deep into his own underground investigations, the reporter’s weary editor, Mavis, and the titular Timothy Terrance Tolland, the object of their hatred and scorn.

As befits New York, Tolland is all about himself in all aspects, from his buildings, collections, and the…