Reporter Jack McMorrow turns in his action-packed job on The New York Times for the peace and quiet of the small mill town of Androscoggin, Maine, but he soon discovers that village life is not so peaceful after all. (Adventure & Suspense).
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
First-novelist Boyle deftly transplants a big-city noir atmosphere to the western Maine mill town of Androscoggin, where the discovery of a freelance photographer's body floating in the canal leads newspaper editor Jack McMorrow into a series of intrigues. Stumbling onto a scandal and cover-up, he is threatened by a temporarily insane woman, kidnapped, beaten and very nearly murdered himself. McMorrow is an outsider--he took over editorship of the weekly Androscoggin Review after stints at the New York Times and other papers--and his first-person narrative exudes the cynicism of an achiever laid low by hubris, striking just the right note for his story. The author, himself an award-winning columnist, uses his insider's knowledge of the newspaper business to give his plot plenty of texture; he also delivers realistic characterizations, diverting subplots and evocative descriptions of rural Maine. Turning what could have been a contrived ending into a powerful, scary denouement, Boyle shocks readers into the recognition that life, in all of its subtlety, will constantly contradict itself. A fine debut; one hopes to see more of McMorrow.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Former New York Times reporter Jack McMorrow, now the editor of a weekly small-town Maine newspaper, is on the scene when the newspaper's photographer is pulled from a canal. Although the authorities rule suicide, McMorrow believes that Arthur Bertin was murdered. Because McMorrow cannot stifle his investigative instincts, he sets off a chain of events that place him and his girlfriend in grave danger. What lies behind Arthur's death is not evident until the last pages of the book. However, Boyle does not create a truly plausible bridge between the perpetrator and the viciousness of the plan to warn McMorrow to stop. First-time novelist Boyle lets his suspense build to an excruciating point while forgetting about character development. Not an essential purchase.
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights - University Heights P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights - University Heights P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Product Details
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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.
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gerry Boyle hits home!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Deadline (A Jack McMorrow mystery) (Paperback)
I was initially attracted to this book because the setting is my own
home town of Rumford (known as Androscoggin in the book). What a surprise!
As a mystery, it kept me baffled until its demise (which, by the way, was almost Mr. McMorrow's!).
Mr. Boyle does such an excellent job of developing his main character, I almost know where he lives;
somewhere on Falmouth or Cumberland Street would be my guess. Although there
is a special, chill-up-your-spine feeling when murder takes place in your own
home town, fiction or non, I would have enjoyed this book if it had been set in OshKosh, Wisconsin.
I'm holding my breath until the next Jack Mcmorrow mystery based in Maine is released (of course, an
added advantage is that I don't have to breathe the odiferous emulations created by our resident mill mentioned in
this book!)
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great start to a series that has just gotten better with mor,
By jboyle@snet.net (Wethersfield, CT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Deadline (A Jack McMorrow mystery) (Paperback)
Good characterizations, particularly the average hardworking (and not so hardworking) citizens. Jack McMurrow just can't leave things be. Waiting for book #6. I'm a little prejudiced because I'm the author's brother. :)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful,
By Mark Laflamme (Maine) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Deadline (A Jack McMorrow mystery) (Paperback)
Boyle's career as a journalist is evident in his novels. The Jack McMorrow tales are as gripping as any crime thrillers 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."
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