By Paul Carrier
When it comes to cracking open a "new" book for the first time, I’m often late to the party. Very late. Years may come and go before I finally get around to reading a novel that hit the shelves five or 10 years ago.
In this case, make that 24 years ago.
Gerry Boyle released Deadline in 1993. Since, then, he has published several more mysteries featuring Jack McMorrow, a former New York Times reporter newly installed in this outing as editor of the Androscoggin Review, a weekly newspaper in the fictional western Maine town of Androscoggin.
Boyle's Androscoggin is not the stuff of picture postcards and tourism brochures. It’s isolated, insular and menacing.
“In fact,” says McMorrow, the narrator of Deadline, “the route to Androscoggin from the south was like a long series of wrong turns, all of which went against your better judgment.” When the snow begins to fall at one point in the novel, “everything looked serene, even idyllic. Main Street Scene by Norman Rockwell. Don’t mind the psychos and crazies waiting in the dark.”
The largest employer in Androscoggin is a massive paper mill, and that’s where McMorrow finds himself when Arthur Bertin’s body is fished out of a canal on the mill’s property. Bertin, an odd loner but a local fixture, worked as a freelance photographer for the Review for many years, until he turned up dead in that canal.
The local cops are treating the case as an accidental drowning, a conclusion supported in a preliminary report from the state medical examiner. But McMorrow has his doubts. How did Bertin, who did not drive and did not live near the canal, get there? And why would he have gone there?
McMorrow later discovers that Bertin took voyeuristic photos of some of the locals by training his telephoto lens on their windows. But even assuming anyone in those pics knew about them, would that have been reason enough to kill Bertin by shoving him into the canal? The police appear to know more about Bertin than they're letting on, which makes McMorrow all the more suspicious.
The fact that no one seems interested in investigating Bertin’s death as a possible homicide isn’t the only thing eating away at McMorrow. He's starting to wonder if he made a mistake by relocating to Maine, which he did when he saw no chance of moving up at the Times. Eventually, second thoughts are replaced by apprehension. And outright fear.
Someone trashes McMorrow’s apartment in an apparent attempt to send him a message. Get out of town, perhaps? If so, is it because McMorrow's newspaper has questioned a local tax break for the mill, triggering unfounded rumors that he's out to shut the mill down? Or does someone resent his pursuit of an investigation into Bertin's death?
In this case, make that 24 years ago.
Gerry Boyle released Deadline in 1993. Since, then, he has published several more mysteries featuring Jack McMorrow, a former New York Times reporter newly installed in this outing as editor of the Androscoggin Review, a weekly newspaper in the fictional western Maine town of Androscoggin.
Boyle's Androscoggin is not the stuff of picture postcards and tourism brochures. It’s isolated, insular and menacing.
“In fact,” says McMorrow, the narrator of Deadline, “the route to Androscoggin from the south was like a long series of wrong turns, all of which went against your better judgment.” When the snow begins to fall at one point in the novel, “everything looked serene, even idyllic. Main Street Scene by Norman Rockwell. Don’t mind the psychos and crazies waiting in the dark.”
The largest employer in Androscoggin is a massive paper mill, and that’s where McMorrow finds himself when Arthur Bertin’s body is fished out of a canal on the mill’s property. Bertin, an odd loner but a local fixture, worked as a freelance photographer for the Review for many years, until he turned up dead in that canal.
The local cops are treating the case as an accidental drowning, a conclusion supported in a preliminary report from the state medical examiner. But McMorrow has his doubts. How did Bertin, who did not drive and did not live near the canal, get there? And why would he have gone there?
McMorrow later discovers that Bertin took voyeuristic photos of some of the locals by training his telephoto lens on their windows. But even assuming anyone in those pics knew about them, would that have been reason enough to kill Bertin by shoving him into the canal? The police appear to know more about Bertin than they're letting on, which makes McMorrow all the more suspicious.
The fact that no one seems interested in investigating Bertin’s death as a possible homicide isn’t the only thing eating away at McMorrow. He's starting to wonder if he made a mistake by relocating to Maine, which he did when he saw no chance of moving up at the Times. Eventually, second thoughts are replaced by apprehension. And outright fear.
Someone trashes McMorrow’s apartment in an apparent attempt to send him a message. Get out of town, perhaps? If so, is it because McMorrow's newspaper has questioned a local tax break for the mill, triggering unfounded rumors that he's out to shut the mill down? Or does someone resent his pursuit of an investigation into Bertin's death?
As the intimidation campaign intensifies, McMorrow and his girlfriend receive threatening letters, an ominous phone call, and disturbing photos that show they're under surveillance. McMorrow barely manages to escape from kidnappers and, later, other assailants. The motive, and the culprit, remain mysteries until the novel’s final pages.
Deadline is gritty, fast-paced and suspenseful, with plenty of local color, a believable set of characters and diverting subplots. The dialogue is caustic and smart, particularly when McMorrow finds himself bantering with the newspaper’s fast-talking, wisecracking sports reporter. The denouement is both satisfying and surprising. And you won't have any trouble finding a copy of the book. Islandport Press in Maine released a new edition in 2014.
Boyle, a Maine resident, is a former newspaperman who has worked in western and central Maine. Deadline displays his intimate knowledge of old-school journalism (it's the early '90s, remember), as well as his familiarity with life in rural Maine. It was an impressive and evocative first novel, which leaves me with a lot of catching up to do.
Deadline is gritty, fast-paced and suspenseful, with plenty of local color, a believable set of characters and diverting subplots. The dialogue is caustic and smart, particularly when McMorrow finds himself bantering with the newspaper’s fast-talking, wisecracking sports reporter. The denouement is both satisfying and surprising. And you won't have any trouble finding a copy of the book. Islandport Press in Maine released a new edition in 2014.
Boyle, a Maine resident, is a former newspaperman who has worked in western and central Maine. Deadline displays his intimate knowledge of old-school journalism (it's the early '90s, remember), as well as his familiarity with life in rural Maine. It was an impressive and evocative first novel, which leaves me with a lot of catching up to do.
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