Customer Reviews

Cover Story

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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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.

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

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.

Boyle's career as a journalist is evident in his novels. The Jack McMorrow tales are as gripping as any crime thrillers out there and Boyle's work on the streets ensures that his books are authentic and gritty. Read one, you'll want to read them all.
-- Mark LaFlamme, author of "The Pink Room."

I've been reading this series since the beginning and eagerly await each new addition. No disappointment this time. Now you will learn some more about Jack's background (why he left NY for Maine) and his life in NY. The story is excellent--kept me guessing til the end about who really did it, although I did have a hunch about who was involved. Boyle's writing style pulls you in bit by bit, never throws you a bunch of red herrings, and always faithfully wraps the story up in his most excellent fashion. I really can't say enough about how this series and the characters have progressed. If you like a good, unusual, interesting story with real characters, don't miss this or any of the other books.

Gerry Boyle's "Jack McMorrow" crime series is a favorite of mine. McMorrow, a free-lance journalist, lives in rural Maine surrounded by the usual cast of characters. Most of the books in the series are set in Maine, my state, which strikes a happy note with me.

In "Cover Story," McMorrow is back in New York City to talk over a stringer gig with the Times. Boyle takes the opportunity to fill in the back-story with details from a decade before, when McMorrow left the Times for Maine after his promising career turned sour.

McMorrow and an old friend, ex-cop Butch Casey, meet for a drink and talk of old times. Casey's version of old times turns out to be dark stories about cover-up and conspiracy in the mayor's office. The next day the larger-than-life mayor turns up dead, Casey's under arrest, and McMorrow's holding the bag -- or at least the envelope stuffed with Casey's annotated file of evidence against the mayor. The police, the press and a city full of New Yorkers are out to get him.

The dark city setting of this book has less natural appeal to me than the rural Maine settings and issues of the other McMorrow books; Bloodline (A Jack Mcmorrow Mystery), Lifeline (Jack McMorrow Mystery) and Potshot (Jack McMorrow Mystery), for example, deal with domestic troubles and growing-your-own. Much more the sort of thing ... well, I'll just say those themes appeal to me more in a thriller than conspiracy and organized crime.

Boyle's writing is always crisp and intelligent, and, personal preferences aside, I appreciate the good plot development. There's never a thread left dangling. The characters are deftly drawn. A particular pleasure: the prologue in which we discover the boyhood relationship between McMorrow and Casey. That's a nice touch from a writer who should be better known.

I recommend this book, though if you are new to the series you might like to meet McMorrow on his own turf by starting with one of the books linked above.

Linda Bulger, 2008

The hero of Maine "Sentinel" columnist Gerry Boyle's snappy, fast-paced Jack McMorrow series is a former "New York Times" reporter turned Maine freelancer. In "Cover Story" Jack's nostalgic drink with boyhood chum and former cop Butch Casey ends with a sad rant about a conspiracy involving the mayor. Casey's obsession stems from the carjacking murder of his wife 10 years earlier and the inexplicable release of her alleged killer. But the next morning, popular anti-crime mayor John Fiore (who bears amazing similarity to Rudy Giuliani) has been assassinated, Casey has been arrested for the crime and the cops want to talk to Jack. Dazed, he tells them what he knows only to realize he too is suspect. The story heats up as, dodging the rabid mob of reporters at his hotel, Jack finds an envelope Casey left for him. Boyle jump-starts the action early and keeps ratchetting up the tension with every new development. Casey's conspiracy "evidence" seems to make no sense at all but then why are so many people desperate to grab it and shut Jack down, permanently? Overwhelmed by media onslaught and villification, Jack bullies, cajoles and misprepresents himself to witnesses lower on the food chain. Nice touches of irony and personal conflict (romantic, moral and professional) dress up the almost non-stop action. Boyle's well-organized plot is sufficiently murky and mystifying and his writing sharp, straightforward and clean. Jack McMorrow is an appealing hero who manages to be both sensitive and tough.

as in previous novels, crisp style and vivid sense of place. plot is ambitious, if convoluted and difficult to follow. features insidious politics,conspiracy and assassination. uneven pacing. interesting description of the rapacious invasiveness of the press.