Potshot. by Gerry Boyle - 1998.

New York, NY Berkley Prime Crime , 1998. Paperback First Edition Thus; First Printing indicated. First Edition Thus; First Printing indicated. Near Fine in Wraps: shows only the most minute indications of use: just a hint of wear to extremities; very faint foxing to the fore-edge and bottom edge; a tiny soil spot at the top edge. The binding is square and secure; the text is clean. Not absolutely perfect, but very close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 12mo. 322pp. Jack McMorrow Mystery Series. Mass Market Paperback. 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. Boyle's Jack McMorrow series has often been compared to Robert B. Parker's Spenser books. In fact, I expected to find a major rip-off of Parker, I was very pleasantly surprised to find tightly written, well-plotted stories with plenty of dry humor. I found Potshot to be one of the best of the McMorrow series. Boyle has a wonderful sense of style, particularly with characters that could easily veer off into stereotypes or just plain silliness. The legalized pot movement is just so ripe for satire, but even through the haze, each character is used to further the plot rather than just for comic relief. Bottom line: Boyle writes well enough that we can lay aside associations with Parker and his hero. Gerry Boyle can stand on his own. Lifeline and Bloodline are worth checking out too.