The day began with a knocking outside the study window. It comes nearly every day about 6 a.m., from the trees on the hill. Today I went out with binoculars, followed the sound of Morse Code from the top of a big maple. And after a few minutes I spotted the tree-knocker, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, letting the world know that this was his tree, his turf, his place to do his percussion thing.
After that it was all gravy, something already accomplished before 6:30 a.m. An interview with Dan Harrington of the Capital Weekly in Augusta, Maine. We had coffee at a diner, paused our talk while the waitresses sang happy birthday to a diner. Couldn’t see whether they put a candle in the eggs.
A lot of talking about DAMAGED GOODS of late. Maine Sunday Telegram, Bangor Daily News, 207 TV show (all in one day). I’m gratified that people are interested in Jack’s comings and goings. Tomorrow (Sunday, May 2) it’s a talk in Kennebunkport, Maine, summer home to George H.W. and Barbara and the rest of the Bush clan. Probably too early in the season for the former president and first lady to drop by, but you never know. In any event, it’s at 2 p.m. at Graves Library. Come by and say hello. If the prez is there, I’ll introduce you.














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.