Customer Reviews

Final Copy

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Final Copy is a mystery with realistic characters, a plot that rings true, a terrific flawed lead character Addie McNeil who stumbles through life doing her best like the rest of us. I love the Boston setting, and that Brogan doesn't tie everything up at the end with a feel-good ending. A surprising, satisfying book.

Jan Brogan is such a promising new mystery novelist.

Final Copy is such a great read. I would reccomend it to anyone seeking to pick up a fresh new writer. This is not a Sherlock Holmes sort of read. Instead, its about a modern day journalist caught in a compromising position, trying to untangle a potentially public scandal.

I hope we see more from this outstanding new author.

The news stories you read in the daily paper (and the way they are presented) are the result of a political struggle among competing egos, ethics, and financial interests at that paper. By telling the story of a washed-up reporter's fight to complete a profile of a man accused of murder, FINAL COPY makes this struggle real in a way that will forever change the way you read your local newspaper. This novel reveals journalism in very much the way Scott Turow's PRESUMED INNOCENT revealed criminal law. It is engrossing as a mystery and moving as a human experience. You have to decide for yourself about the morality of Addy McNeil's decision, and it is testimony to the power of the story and the writing that it won't be an easy decision for you.

As a mystery buff I am always in search of that exciting, well writen mystery whose ending I cannot predict.Final Copy was all of that and more! With a well woven plot, fascinating characters and a truly surprising ending, you will not be disappointed. Hopefully more mysteries will follow for this author.(By the way, this plot would be perfect material for a movie! Anyone from Hollywood out there?)

I like reading mysteries as an occasional break from the more serious fiction and non-fiction I usually prefer to read. FINAL COPY is much more satisfying than the typical mystery novel -- it's got great characters, a compelling plot, and an unpredictable ending. The main character, Addy McNeil, a newspaper reporter down on her luck and trying to get her career back on track, is not your typical crackerjack detective. But her journalistic instincts and dogged determination enable her to get to the bottom of the central murder mystery: Did Kit Korbanics (an old college boyfriend) push his business partner over a hotel balcony to his death, or was it suicide? The real mystery, though, is what Addy will do with the information she learns, since the truth, her ambition, and her feelings toward Kit are all at odds. The writing is crisp, and the story is fast-paced and engaging. I highly recommend this book for mystery fans and for people who just love a good story well told.

Conventional wisdom is that you start with the first of a series and work your way up to the latest. However, I went backwards, starting with TEASER, and I must say it worked out nicely for me. Reading this first book and learning fully about Addy McNeil's last days on the Boston newspaper before going to Providence was a fulfilling experience for me. However, if you haven't yet started this series, this is by all means the logical starting point in learning of Addy's addictive personality, and the background dealing with her brother's death and a former lover along with her covering a crime story involving said former boy friend. You will of course then be anxious on reading the rest that have been published so far.

The year is 1991 and news reporter Addy McNeil is having a hard time of it. Not only is she battling prescription substance abuse and nightly panic attacks, she is dealing with the rippling aftereffects on her and her parents of her brother's recent death. Recently demoted at the newspaper, her bosses now want her to use her relationship from 14 years ago to gain personal access to a murder suspect.

Kit Korbanics, business partner of Francis Marquesson, is suspected of throwing Marquesson over a balcony of the Harbor Inn Hotel to his death. The fact that Addy dated him in college has given her a chance to resurrect her struggling journalism career by doing an in depth profile on Kit. But in reaching out to Kit to do her assigned piece, painful old memories and feelings surface. Against a backdrop of venture capitalism, bioengineering and the beginnings of the synthetic cocaine problem, Addy struggles to investigate Kit and once again practice journalistic objectivity.

Featuring a sympathetic main character, this novel slowly moves forward in cozy style and tantalizes the reader with clues and misdirection. Much like her second novel "A Confidential Source" which is a stronger book, Addy deals with the same issues of substance abuse, inability to sleep, and drawing the line between her life as a reporter and her personal life. While the heroines are differently named, readers will recognize the many commonalities between the two.

Well written, no doubt due to the author's wide experiences in journalism, this read provides a tantalizing glimpse into the harsh realities of the modern newspaper newsroom. At the same time, it provides a good mystery as well as giving the reader a reason to read bylines in the morning paper just a little differently.


Kevin R. Tipple © 2005

Jan Brogan has a great feel for creating a suspensful mystery. And she has a knack for putting you into the shoes of the main character - perhaps because she bases the protaganist on her own experience as an investigative reporter.

Hard Copy has a great pace to it. It's dark, but not without humor. It's an 'edge of your seat' thriller, where you can't put it down until the last page. And it's an amazing debut by a promising author who was cut out to pen mysteries.

I can't wait for her next book, A Confidential Source.

Jan Brogan's Final Copy is a thrilling debut mystery novel about a morally challanged reporter, written by a veteran reporter. It's got a fast moving story, a dark New England (Boston) feel, and a struggling, likable heroin.

If you enjoy crime fiction and smartly written mysteries, you'll really appreciate Final Copy.

Two Thumbs way up for Brogan's first mystery novel. My only problem is I now have to wait for her next mystery! I really hope she is typing away because she got me hooked!!