Once Burned (HC)

Like many crime novelists, Gerry Boyle began his writing career in newspapers, an industry he calls the “best training ground ever.” After graduating from Colby College, Gerry knocked around, taking stints as a roofer, a postman, and a manuscript reader in New York. However, his time in the city was cut short when Boyle realized that he preferred his adopted northern state to the bustle of Manhattan. His first reporting job was in the paper mill town of Rumford, Maine. After a few months, he moved on to the (Waterville) Morning Sentinel, where editors learned quickly that he worked best when left to his own devices, and Boyle learned that the line between upstanding citizen and outlaw is a fine one, indeed. His experiences as a reporter inspired his first novel, Deadline, published in 1993. Boyle has now written eleven gritty, authentic mysteries featuring his signature character Jack McMorrow.

Author photo by Kevin Bennett for Islandport Press

"Plot, characterization, atmosphere—everything works in Boyle’s excellent 10th Jack McMorrow mystery . . . Readers who enjoyed Robert B. Parker’s ability to create smart, convincing heroes with a tough-guy surface but warmly empathetic interior will welcome this worthy successor."
—Publishers Weekly Starred Review

 

"Once Burned is a well-written, suspenseful thriller. Its characters are uniquely different from one to the next. Boyle weaves his double-plot story with skill until all lines cross... Boyle skillfully creates unique characters you'll remember long after closing his book... Once Burned is action-packed with carefully drawn, memorable characters."
—Lloyd Ferriss, Portland Press Herald
 

 "...there is plenty to enjoy for crime-fiction readers interested in character and comfortable with a slowly unwinding narrative."
—Don Crinklaw, Booklist

 

"In the 10th title in his Jack McMorrow series, Once Burned, Gerry Boyle evokes primal terror... Piling on plot threads and sharp twists, this page-turner is both a powerful work of crime fiction... Boyle proves once again that a really good mystery must be much more than an intricate and believable plot: It requires characters who speak to us, and echo our own loves and doubts."
—Beth Kanell, Kingdom Books Blog
 

"Once Burned may be the best mystery McMorrow mystery yet—an intricate and clever plot, sharply defined characters, authentic Maine setting, snappy dialogue, and white-knuckle suspense."
—Bill Bushnell, centralmaine.com
 

"The details are crisp, the writing is concise, and Boyle's keen observational skills come across in the character and dialogue."
—Steve Steinbock, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

 

"Once Burned is the tenth and newest volume of Gerry Boyle's outstanding 'McMorrow Mystery' series. A truly riveting read from first page to last, Once Burned continues to document novelist Gerry Boyle as a master of the mystery/suspense genre. Once Burned is enthusiastically recommended for community library collections."
—Midwest Book Review 

 

“I’ve been waiting—impatiently—for years for a new novel by one of my favorite writers, Gerry Boyle. Well, it was worth the wait, because Gerry’s new novel, Once Burned, is a real page-turner. I actually read it in one day—literally could not stop reading. It is that good."
—George Smith

 

"a taught, gripping story that gets more intriguing by the minute." 
––The Miramichi Reader
 

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