Two things to report this morning:
One, I’ll be at Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine this Thursday (May 6) at 7 p.m. to chat and sign DAMAGED GOODS. Longfellow is a “fiercely independent” bookstore, the kind that every town and city should have. It’s a shop run by and for book lovers. I’m looking forward to it and hope to see some of you there.
Two, I’m a dedicated obituary reader. I read about the “notable” people in the NY Times. I read about the quiet accomplishments of the people in my local paper here in central Maine, the Morning Sentinel. Today’s Sentinel had a small gem. His name was Harry E. Carter, and he lived in Moscow, Maine, up in Somerset County. If you’ve driven up to Quebec, you’ve been through Moscow.
Anyway, Mr. Carter worked for paper companies, mostly, the biggest landowners in his parts. He retired at 62, and for the next 22 years, his obituary said, “continued to work from home as an inventor, builder, metal worker, mechanic, carpenter, and welder. A more clever man would be hard to find.”
There was other news in my paper this morning: a guy stabbing another guy after being chased by a mob from a local bar. Some other items reflecting general mayhem.
Mr. Carter’s obituary offered some reassurance. It told me that I live in a part of the world where his sort of cleverness is valued, and would be offered as a last testament as to the kind of person he was. Good for him.














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.