March 21, 2005
Journalist Brogan's taut, well-written second mystery (after 2001's Final Copy
) introduces Hallie Ahearn, a down-on-her-luck reporter who has left Boston, Mass., for Rhode Island, a small state with big-time corruption. A trip to the local convenience store lands Ahearn right in the middle of a fatal robbery. Family man and convenience store owner Barry Mazursky gets a bullet in his forehead, and Ahearn—quavering and unseen behind an Italian biscuit display—gets drawn into the crime as friend, eavesdropper and investigator. It seems that the shooting may not be the random act of punks or petty criminals but something more sinister. People high and low in the food chain have a lot to lose, including Mazursky's family, corrupt Providence mayor Bill Lopresti, talk-radio jock Leonard Marianni and state-lottery honcho Gregory Ayers. Brogan does a good job of creating a bristling plot and likable characters, while dosing the whole novel with elements of humor and satire that are original, accurate and unexpected. Altogether, this is a fine New England concoction, like a fresh lobster roll liberally laced with arsenic. Agent, Dan Mandel at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
February 15, 2005
As in Brogan's 2001 debut, " Final Copy" , this book features a New England investigative reporter struggling to scoop the competition and revive her flagging career. Only the name of the appealingly fallible heroine has changed, from Addy McNiel to Hallie Ahern, making the reader wonder why Brogan didn't opt for a series. Despite some nice twists and turns, Brogan's sophomore effort lacks much of the investigative detail and psychological acuity of its predecessor, as key clues and revelations repeatedly drop into Hallie's lap. Her chance presence at a convenience store shooting in Providence, Rhode Island, leads her to stumble upon an obscure plot involving a legalized gambling initiative opposed by a radio talkjock who feeds her several leads in the case, even as she falls prey to the lure of gambling. Rhode Island is a promising fishbowl for future installments, but Addy/Hallie will have to get her act together to be as compelling as Denise Hamilton's Eve Diamond (see review on p.1064). Larger libraries will want to buy on margin, assuming Brogan will realize her potential soon. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)