A Confidential Source (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Journalist Brogan's taut, well-written second mystery (after 2001's Final Copy) introduces Hallie Ahearn, a down-on-her-luck reporter who has left Boston, Mass., for Rhode Island, a small state with big-time corruption. A trip to the local convenience store lands Ahearn right in the middle of a fatal robbery. Family man and convenience store owner Barry Mazursky gets a bullet in his forehead, and Ahearn—quavering and unseen behind an Italian biscuit display—gets drawn into the crime as friend, eavesdropper and investigator. It seems that the shooting may not be the random act of punks or petty criminals but something more sinister. People high and low in the food chain have a lot to lose, including Mazursky's family, corrupt Providence mayor Bill Lopresti, talk-radio jock Leonard Marianni and state-lottery honcho Gregory Ayers. Brogan does a good job of creating a bristling plot and likable characters, while dosing the whole novel with elements of humor and satire that are original, accurate and unexpected. Altogether, this is a fine New England concoction, like a fresh lobster roll liberally laced with arsenic. Agent, Dan Mandel at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Apr. 20)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

As in Brogan's 2001 debut, Final Copy, this book features a New England investigative reporter struggling to scoop the competition and revive her flagging career. Only the name of the appealingly fallible heroine has changed, from Addy McNiel to Hallie Ahern, making the reader wonder why Brogan didn't opt for a series. Despite some nice twists and turns, Brogan's sophomore effort lacks much of the investigative detail and psychological acuity of its predecessor, as key clues and revelations repeatedly drop into Hallie's lap. Her chance presence at a convenience store shooting in Providence, Rhode Island, leads her to stumble upon an obscure plot involving a legalized gambling initiative opposed by a radio talkjock who feeds her several leads in the case, even as she falls prey to the lure of gambling. Rhode Island is a promising fishbowl for future installments, but Addy/Hallie will have to get her act together to be as compelling as Denise Hamilton's Eve Diamond (see review on p.1064). Larger libraries will want to buy on margin, assuming Brogan will realize her potential soon. David Wright
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press (April 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892960078
• ISBN-13: 978-0892960071
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #872,881 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Providence has a New Sleuth, April 27, 2005

By	Diane Bonavist (Sandwich, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once again Brogan, a former financial writer, has created a plot around monetary high-jinx and addiction. In her previous mystery, Final Copy, it was the giddy alliance of venture capital and designer cocaine. In A Confidential Source, it's the low-rent neighbors of scratch tickets and casino gambling. For the protagonist, Hallie Ahern, has lost her impressive position as a Boston investigative reporter, and relocated to low-end employment and low-rent addiction in Providence, RI.
Brogan is always honest about the problem of economic temptation (an early work included an elegant Ponzi scheme, imaginary yachts, and the gullible folks of a sea-side town.) and isn't too delicate to give us a character on the margin financially, professionally and emotionally. Yet she treats her hapless protagonist with compassion and wry humor. Like Colombo, there is much more to Hallie than meets the eye. Beneath the vague dishevelment and the thrice-worn-this-week apparel is a tenacious and intrepid investigative journalist. The reader is drawn easily into her world without resistance and is carried along through a well-paced story to a satisfying conclusion The book buzzes with likely characters, not the least of which is the city itself drawn with an eye for local folk and foible.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well thought out thriller, April 25, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

She had an affair having an affair with an alleged murderer that she was profiling for the Boston Ledger. When she learns he was using her, reporter Hallie Ahern quits and relocates to Rhode Island where she takes a journalist position at a satellite bureau of the providence Morning-Chronicle. She fears working on any major story until the night she is in the back of the near deserted Mazurksy's market when someone shoots Barry the manager.

Hallie writes the article and Leonard of Late Night radio offers her vital information for her story. Leonard tells Hallie that Barry had a gambling addiction that forced him to sell his stores, but though broke still played; he believes the mob sanctioned a hit. However Hallie notices how rabidly anti-gambling Leonard is as he challenges the mayor every chance he gets on the issue as His Honor wants to legalize the "vice" in Rhode Island. He offers her more information on political corruption at the highest state levels, but someone who has killed twice to keep the story out of the media will add Hallie to the list of the dead if she fails to drop her investigation.

Fans who read A CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE will understand why many people oppose legalized gambling; Jan Brogan shows how the lure can cause a person to lose everything yet the addiction keeps them playing. Hallie learns this first hand when she begins playing at a casino and quickly is unable to pay her bills. Though one sided on the issue by ignoring the multi billion dollar illegal gambling industry, this novel is a well thought out thriller that is full of misdirection especially a believable unexpected u-turn that will surprise an elated audience.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brogan, Please, More Hallie!, April 22, 2005

By	Noreen Hammond (Lakewood, California) - See all my reviews

Although I love mysteries and thrillers, I only read a few each year. That's because I demand that a mystery have believable, well-developed, interesting characters and a fascinating setting. I picked up A Confidential Source because of the great review in Publishers Weekly, and from the first chapter, I was hooked by Hallie Ahearn. No cookie-cutter female sleuth there! Hallie is the genuine article. I love the fact that's she's--well, a little wacky, offbeat, funny as hell, and passionate about setting one part of the world right.