Cover Story

by Gerry Boyle

Overview

It's been seven years since Jack McMorrow left New York for small-town Maine. His years of stringing stories and murders together in the backwoods has been an adventure, sure, but they have also put a big dent in his bank account. In this, the sixth installment of the popular Jack McMorrow series, McMorrow is hired back at The New York Times to cover his old Metro beat. Unsure at first, Jack soon regains his journalistic footing and settles into the incessant hustle and flow of the city. When the mayor is murdered in a hotel restroom, Jack thinks he is working on the ultimate cover story. Instead, Jack is about to become the prime murder suspect in his own newspaper story. Called an outstanding crime novel by Booklist when it was first published in 2000, Cover Story is Boyle at his best. This redesigned edition includes a new introduction by the author.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939017789
Publisher:	Islandport Press
Publication date:	06/08/2016
Series:	A Jack McMorrow Mystery , #6
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	396
Sales rank:	992,846
File size:	561 KB

About the Author

Like many crime novelists, Gerry Boyle began his writing career in newspapers, an industry he calls the “best training ground ever.” After graduating from Colby College, Gerry knocked around, taking stints as a roofer, a postman, and a manuscript reader in New York. However, his time in the city was cut short when Boyle realized that he preferred his adopted northern state to the bustle of Manhattan. His first reporting job was in the paper mill town of Rumford, Maine. After a few months, he moved on to the (Waterville) Morning Sentinel, where editors learned quickly that he worked best when left to his own devices, and Boyle learned that the line between upstanding citizen and outlaw is a fine one, indeed. His experiences as a reporter inspired his first novel, Deadline, published in 1993. He continues to write gritty, authentic mysteries featuring his signature character, Jack McMorrow. Straw Man, his 11th McMorrow novel, is set for release in May 2016.

Editorial Reviews

Once a New York Times reporter, Jack McMorrow left the city in the 1980s after a virulent falling-out with the paper's management. A decade later, he's back in Manhattan, settling the details for his gig as the Times's new northern New England stringer before returning home to Maine. While in town, Jack has a drink with his childhood pal, former cop Butch Casey. The next morning a TV reporter informs Jack that New York's popular mayor, the Giulianiesque Johnny Fiore, has been fatally stabbed and Butch has been arrested for the crime. (Ten years ago, when Butch's wife was murdered, then-DA Fiore dropped the case against the killer, saying that a witness against him was tainted.) The media descends on Jack; trying to escape their prying, he winds up at the Brooklyn loft of his ex-girlfriend. Before the mayor's death, Butch had claimed he knew of corruption in the justice system, so Jack treks all over the city checking out Butch's leads while he himself is constantly under surveillance. The mob, drug dealers and political operatives all seem to be part of the shady goings-on. Boyle (Borderline, etc.) deftly puts Jack through his paces: Is Jack's work on the story a conflict of interest? Can he resist the decadent temptations of his old life and return to the woman he loves in Maine? Boyle's snappy prose stops just short of hard-boiled, letting some poignancy slip into his characters' plights. As the story pushes forward, he fashions a powerful study of New York City--of its glamour, of the tawdry hopelessness of so many who live there, and of the power-mad honchos who feed on them. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Maine investigative reporter Jack McMorrow visits New York intending to work freelance for the New York Times. When news breaks of the mayor's murder and police arrest Jack's longtime friend, an ex-cop, as the perp, Jack's plans quickly change. Hoping to save his friend and track down the real murderer, he offers to assist the police, winds up under media scrutiny himself, then uncovers political corruption leading back to the mayor and beyond. Boyle offers potential movie material here: murder, intrigue, frantic chases, confrontations, ambitious women (and men), and hidden agendas--all told with crisp tension. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal