The Way Life Should Be: A Novel [Paperback]

Terry Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2007

Just before dawn in Stone Harbor, Maine, two men meet in the bathhouse in a wooded park.

"So what do you have in mind?" one asks.

"A little surprise," the other answers before beating him to death with a steel flashlight.

Newspaper editor John Quinn and his wife have returned to his hometown to raise their son, but real estate prices have soared and natives are being pushed out. Then a popular politician and family man is murdered at a well-known gay pickup spot. The victim was Quinn's childhood friend, Paul Stanwood. Quinn insists Paul was only investigating a police crackdown at the park.

When the police chief and others seem to ignore and downplay obvious clues, Quinn takes matters into his own hands. Even though his wife's car is vandalized and a source is severely beaten after he speaks out on the hidden violence against gays, Quinn refuses to stop looking for answers. With so many people hiding secrets -- secrets some are willing to kill for -- Quinn has to find out the truth about his friend's murder before he, too, is permanently silenced.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... gets a number of things right: life, the nature of friendship and how little we really know about each other." -- Erie Times-News, September 13, 2007

"Funny, wry, sad, suspenssful ... It's just the kind of book everyone in the book club is dying to read." -- Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram,October 14, 2007

"He knows how to assemble the right elements, weaving plot and back story together seemlessly." -- Publisher's Weekly, August 6, 2007

"Shaw has a good sense of pacing and surprises that make for a good mystery ... a promising debut." -- USA Today, Sept. 18, 2007

"The book is a fast-paced thriller -- one worthy of the suspenseful journey to publication." -- Nashville Scene, Sept. 27, 2007

About the Author

Terry Shaw has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in several states, including Maine. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 295 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416563121
• ISBN-13: 978-1416563129
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,839,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Way Life Should Be--A Great Read, October 23, 2007

By 

B. Rielly (Westbrook, ME USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way Life Should Be: A Novel (Paperback)

Fantastic debut novel. I read this straight through without putting it down. The action snaps along. The setting rings true for a small, coastal Maine town. The characters are well-developed with good back stories. There are no down times in the story. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes good, gritty mysteries.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Debut, October 22, 2007

By 

Thomas J. Tracy (Pittston, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way Life Should Be: A Novel (Paperback)

In The Way Life Should Be, Terry Shaw shows that while maybe you can go home again, the return is certainly not without issue. Shaw's debut novel gives us John Quinn as a native State o' Mainer who returns from Miami to his storybook hometown of Stone Harbor,Maine, only to see his best friend murdered at a notorious gay pickup spot. Quinn, the publisher of the local newspaper, takes investigative matters into his own hands when he feels the local police are mishandling the probe and may even be complicit in the crime. Quinn not only faces the task of finding the killer, but also of keeping his wife and young son from perhaps meeting the same cruel fate as Quinn's friend, Paul Stanwood.

Shaw's skillfully woven tale of suspense draws on a tight storyline in which the reader is transported to the middle of a sleepy Maine hamlet where nothing much ever happens. Until now, that is. The Maine imagery abounds, the dialogue is crisp and sometimes amusingly colloquial, and the characters the reader loves to love (Angus Stanwood, the deceased's father comes to mind), and loves to hate (Police Chief Al Sears, for instance), populate the fast-paced mystery. The reader is driven through plot twists and turns which, at times, seem to be frenetically paced, giving the novel a page-turning appeal. You might want to put the way your life should be on hold for a day or two until you get to the bottom of this thriller. That it had to end at all is the only drawback. All in all, this is a great first novel from Mr. Shaw with the hope of more work to follow.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder Mystery Extraordinaire, October 16, 2007

By 

Joseph L. Amadio (DFW, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way Life Should Be: A Novel (Paperback)

"The Way Life Should Be" by Terry Shaw is a most deserving winner of the First Chapters writing contest sponsored by gather.com.

Set in small-town Maine, this engaging story is a real page-turner. Shaw's protagonist, John Quinn, is a complex and brooding newspaper editor. The pace is taut and tense. The characters are edgy and minimalist.

The plot, which explores the murder of Quinn's close friend, Paul Stanwood, in a homosexual park encounter -- could be torn from today's tabloid news headlines. Shaw's intricately woven subplots keep you engaged as you turn page after page, hurling the reader headlong to the surprising conclusion.

Overall, I feel this novel is sort of an American gothic, Yankee/New England-style. If Shaw continues this promising inaugural work, he could be next great American suspense writer. Best of luck in your future endeavors.