MPBN radio (public radio in Maine) morning host Irwin Gratz was good enough to have me on to chat about PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN. Irwin said he’d finished the book the night before and enjoyed it. We talked and it was interesting. Irwin is quite thoughtful, as you might expect from Public Radio, and asks good questions. When the mic was off, he said he wondered about Brandon Blake’s decisions near the story’s climax (I can’t give away too much.). Irwin said he probably wouldn’t have taken so much into his own hands (and landed in the middle of a confrontation that involves much gunfire.). Interesting question and he’s right. People like us would probably would have just called the cops. But then we wouldn’t be the heroes in crime novels, would we. Are truly realistically drawn heroes possible? Are there heroes among us in real life? Something to consider.
Here’s the interview.
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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