Borderline

Boyle's career as a journalist is evident in his novels. The Jack McMorrow tales are as gripping as any crime thrillers and Boyle's work on the streets ensures that his books are authentic and gritty. Read one, you'll want to read them all. -- Mark LaFlamme, author of "The Pink Room."

Gerry Boyle certainly knows the people of small town Maine. His descriptions take us into the heart of many a small Maine town. His characters are my relatives and their neighbors in central Maine ... his towns are the towns I knew as a boy. It's real!

Former New York Times and current free lance Maine reporter, Jack McMorrow is researching a piece on the Benedict Arnold Revolutionary War trail which stretches from New England to Quebec. When he reaches Scanesett, Maine, Jack learns that someone named P. Ray Mantis mysteriously disappeared from a tour bus that stopped in town. Police chief Dale Nevins writes the missing person off as going away with a barfly. Jack's instincts tells him there is more to the story. As he investigates the Arnold story, Jack also makes inquiries about Mantis, who has ties with local folks. Jack wonders if foul play has occurred or is the police right that the man went off with a lady of the night. If his hunch is correct, Jack knows that to continue his investigation could be very dangerous. The Jack McMorrow mysteries are some of the best regional sleuth tales on the market today. However, the fifth book, BORDERLINE, though quite interesting, is not quite up to the level of the preceding novels. There are very many good words to say about this including: the insights into what makes Jack tick,the Maine natives and scenery, and the Arnold segments (which will also probably turn off some non-historian buffs because there are many non-mystery pages dedicated to this). In spite of all this the Mantis mystery never quite hooks the reader. Fans of the series and American History will thoroughly enjoy the story. For everyone else it is a doubtful but BORDERLINE call at best whether the who-done-it will be enough to satisfy them. Harriet Klausner