Cover Story [Hardcover]

Gerry Boyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2000

Who killed the mayor of New York City?

It's the story of a lifetime, a story every reporter dreams of writing-the cover story. And seasoned reporter Jack McMorrow is the perfect man for the job. That is, until he becomes a suspect.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Once a New York Times reporter, Jack McMorrow left the city in the 1980s after a virulent falling-out with the paper's management. A decade later, he's back in Manhattan, settling the details for his gig as the Times's new northern New England stringer before returning home to Maine. While in town, Jack has a drink with his childhood pal, former cop Butch Casey. The next morning a TV reporter informs Jack that New York's popular mayor, the Giulianiesque Johnny Fiore, has been fatally stabbed and Butch has been arrested for the crime. (Ten years ago, when Butch's wife was murdered, then-DA Fiore dropped the case against the killer, saying that a witness against him was tainted.) The media descends on Jack; trying to escape their prying, he winds up at the Brooklyn loft of his ex-girlfriend. Before the mayor's death, Butch had claimed he knew of corruption in the justice system, so Jack treks all over the city checking out Butch's leads while he himself is constantly under surveillance. The mob, drug dealers and political operatives all seem to be part of the shady goings-on. Boyle (Borderline, etc.) deftly puts Jack through his paces: Is Jack's work on the story a conflict of interest? Can he resist the decadent temptations of his old life and return to the woman he loves in Maine? Boyle's snappy prose stops just short of hard-boiled, letting some poignancy slip into his characters' plights. As the story pushes forward, he fashions a powerful study of New York City--of its glamour, of the tawdry hopelessness of so many who live there, and of the power-mad honchos who feed on them. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Maine investigative reporter Jack McMorrow visits New York intending to work freelance for the New York Times. When news breaks of the mayor's murder and police arrest Jack's longtime friend, an ex-cop, as the perp, Jack's plans quickly change. Hoping to save his friend and track down the real murderer, he offers to assist the police, winds up under media scrutiny himself, then uncovers political corruption leading back to the mayor and beyond. Boyle offers potential movie material here: murder, intrigue, frantic chases, confrontations, ambitious women (and men), and hidden agendas--all told with crisp tension.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 371 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1st edition (January 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042516893X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425168936
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,379,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Like many crime novelists I began my writing career in newspapers--the best training ground ever. After Colby College, I knocked around, including stints as a roofer, a postman, and a manuscript reader at a big New York publisher (thumbs up for the roofer gig, thumbs down on the publishing job).

My first reporting job was with a weekly in the paper mill town of Rumford, Maine. It was there that I left my sweaty mark on high-school wrestling coverage. But there was lots of small-town crime in Rumford. I would later mine my Rumford time for my first novel, DEADLINE.

After a few months it was on to the daily Waterville, Maine Morning Sentinel, where editors gave me a thrice-weekly column and I wrote about stuff I saw in police stations, courtrooms, in the towns and cities of Maine.

And all the while I was making up stories on the side, typing away on a Smith-Corona electric typewriter.

DEADLINE came out in 1993and the books came steadily after that. McMorrow and I grew up together, though at different rates.. I continue to live in a small village in central Maine, making regular trips for book research. My deal with Jack: I'll send him into some pretty dangerous places, but I'll scout them out first. I walk point; Jack has my back. Brandon Blake and I are still feeling each other out.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jack travels well..., January 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cover Story (Hardcover)

I wondered when I saw that the new Jack McMorrow was set in New York City whether a Down Easter like Gerry Boyle could convincingly take Jack out of the woods and transplant him into the big city. I was also concerned that losing the evocative descriptions of rural Maine that are such a compelling part of this series would make this book just another crime story. I was pleased to find that Boyle's descriptions of NYC's off the beaten track locations not only rang true but also had the same melancholy and menacing qualities of his Maine settings. Jack also seemed right at home in the crime and grime of New York. As a New York transplant to New England I was on the lookout for any false notes, but didn't spot any. The story races along. It is faster paced than the other books in the series, with the possible exception of Deadline. Cover Story is a little nastier and rougher than the other books, but Boyle doesn't overdo it. I recommend the book to any fan of Jack McMorrow and fast paced crime novels.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gritty detective story, November 11, 2002

By 

Annette Gisby "agisby" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cover Story (Paperback)

Jack McMorrow, ex-journalist for the Times and retired Detective Butch Casey have been friends since childhood, although they haven't seen each other since the murder of Casey's wife ten years ago. When McMorrow is in New York on business with the Times, he accepts an invitation to meet with Casey for old times' sake.

Later that night, the popular mayor, Fiore, is found murdered in a hotel bathroom, stabbed to death. Casey's fingerprints are all over the weapon and he is arrested. McMorrow can hardly believe it, he knew that Casey was upset because the mayor had let his wife's killer go, Fiore had been the DA at the time, but McMorrow didn't think he was capable of murder.

Digging deeper into the crimes of ten years ago, McMorrow discovers that the mayor had more enemies than grains of sand on a beach and he wasn't as perfect as everyone was making him out to be. Determined to get to the bottom of things and clear his friend's name McMorrow is pursued by the press, by the police and by others who seem determined to kill him.

The plot is fast and pacy with lots of dialogue and interaction between characters and it was difficult to put the book down. New York under Mayor Fiore is painted as this wonderful Utopia, but McMorrow can see the worms underneath, things haven't so much changed as been brushed under the carpet and the holes start to show.

And who really did kill the mayor? Well, you'll just have to read and find out. You won't be disappointed.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of Silent Screams

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consistently good, July 26, 2001

By 

Paul M. Dellinger (Wytheville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cover Story (Paperback)

I don't know why Gerry Boyle's mystery series isn't even better known than it is. Mysteries with reporters as sleuths have an honorable history in the genre, but, having been a reporter for 30+ years, I find most of them ring false, regardless of the merits of their mystery plots. Not so with Boyle. All of his books have been dead-on regarding his reporter-hero, and this latest one is particularly interesting in getting more into his protagonist's journalistic history as we move from rural New England to down-and-dirty NYC. I can't wait for his next.