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Gerry Boyle’s uncanny eye for the dangers that can lie just beneath the sleepy surfaces of rural Maine makes his fourth book about freelance journalist Jack McMorrow a marvelously mordant mystery. It’s not hard to swallow the back story that the impulsive McMorrow gave up a job with the New York Times to savor the charms and rigors of northern New England; he takes the same kinds of chances here as he gets involved with a strange bunch of advocates for legal marijuana. More McMorrow memoirs in paperback include Bloodline, Deadline and Lifeline.
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Well-realized, believable characters . . . an interesting subplot . . . an unusual and suspenseful novel.
From Library Journal, Terrill Persky
In Boyle’s fourth offering, the characters are fully realized, and the plot, if a bit contrived, moves along believably enough. Boyle has a wonderful sense of place–in this case, Maine–where Jack McMorrow has fled to escape the workaholic drive that led him to become a top reporter for the New York Times. Now he works as a freelancer, which leads him into places most reporters avoid. McMorrow is enlisted by a group of old hippies to do a story on the legalization of marijuana. What appears to be a worthy cause–and a quick $300 paycheck–quickly escalates into confrontations with violent gangsters. A parallel story involves McMorrow’s love interest, Roxanne, a social worker who confronts danger as she attempts to rescue children from abusive parents. Along with snappy dialog that propels the story, Boyle presents an ensemble of likable characters. A sure thing for anyone who has enjoyed Robert Parker’s Spenser novels.
From The New York Times Book Review, Marilyn Stasio
Now and then, even the best regional authors get a little maudlin about the beauty of their backyards. Not Gerry Boyle. His series hero, a journalist named Jack McMorrow, who traded his urban crawl space for a cabin in the Maine wilderness, is too honest an observer to sentimentalize rural life.
From Booklist, Thomas Gaughan
Jack McMorrow gave up the journalistic fast track for freelancing in Prosperity, Maine, and spending time with Roxanne, a beautiful Portland social worker. While attending a fair celebrating country life, Bobby Mullaney, a glib, likable hippie promoting marijuana legalization, catches McMorrow’s attention as a possible story subject. But then Bobby disappears, apparently the victim of a drug deal gone bad, and the reporter must pursue a circuitous story to its dangerous conclusion. Author Gerry Boyle is a Maine journalist, and he knows his patch. His central Maine falls somewhere between the stereotype of laconic Yankees saying, “Ayuh” and fanciful mean streets in the woods. Potshot is the fourth installment in the McMorrow series, which deserves much wider recognition than it has yet received. Spread the word.
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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