From Publishers Weekly
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. 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.
From Library Journal
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.
Booklist
[This] may be the one that puts him on the bestseller lists.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Surprising twists and turns.
San Antonio Express-News
Deft dialogue and detail.
In PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN, the first Brandon Blake novel, Brandon gets a full dose of bad guys. A brawl in a funeral home introduces him to Joel Fuller, a sociopathic hustler. Fuller is fresh out of jail and determined to take Brandon out—after Fuller and his sidekick Kelvin shake him down.
Rocky isn’t a tough guy. He’s a skinny little kid with crooked glasses, and he shouldn’t be homeless in Portland, Maine. When McMorrow and Roxanne pluck him from under the stomping feet of a gang of street kids, Rocky latches onto McMorrow–and drags him into a world of murder, both old and new. Why is McMorrow protecting Rocky? The cops want to know. Why is Rocky on the run? McMorrow wants to know. Why does death follow in Rocky’s wake? Jack and Roxanne need to find out before they’re added to the list. 
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