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Jack McMorrow Mystery #10
Once Burned
Life is briefly as it should be for Jack McMorrow: He and his wife Roxanne have retreated from the stress and danger of their day jobs to raise their daughter Sophie. But when development and arson threaten the nearby town of Sanctuary, and a crazy accident brings back mistakes from Roxanne's past, Jack's nose for crime leads him into a darker and deeply twisted tale. Something explosive is smoldering beneath the glossy facades and picturesque town square in Sanctuary, and the enemy is closer than he thinks. In "Once Burned," the tenth installment of the internationally popular McMorrow series, Jack will take you along as he hunts a killer with a long memory and a very short fuse.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2015
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253 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 24, 2015
First Sentence: He bought the wick online from a candle-supply shop in Houston, calling the people up first to ask which type of wick burned the hottest.
The body of a woman, with a large burn scar on one side of her face, is found in a local forest. With no way to identify her, the police release her photo to the media asking for the public’s help.
Money is tight, in the McMorrow family, now that Jack and Roxanne have a daughter, Roxanne is no longer working as a social worker, and they have to depend on the free-lance stories Jack sells to the New York Times and other outlets. An arson fire in the small town of Sanctuary just might prove the story Jack needs. Rather than being a single incident, it quickly becomes clear that someone has an agenda, and the town is happy to accuse those who are most vulnerable. Roxanne finds she can’t separate from her old job as much as she’d planned when she, and her family, are threatened by the drug-addicted mother whose child died when placed in foster care.
There’s nothing like a strong opening, and Boyle starts us off with a very frightening, yet compelling, prologue, immediately followed by a beginning which guarantees impending disaster.
Boyle has created a cast of characters we what to know on an ongoing basis. As well as Jack and Roxanne, he has also created one of the most appealing, least annoying, children in Sofie. Then there are their neighbors and friends Mary and her husband, Clair, the ex-Marine Commando who always has Jack’s back. Additionally, there are secondary characters who are fully developed and hold their own.
The dialogue is excellent. It flows very naturally and is appropriate to the characters and their relationships. “Are you going to return our firearms?” Clair said. “What if I don’t?” Foley said. “I’ll have to go back to the house and get some more.” Clair said.
There are also good lessons to be learned about how much control one does, and does not, have and where one’s responsibilities ends, as well as providing those moments that cause one to stop and consider…”Every society has a warrior class. Without that we have anarchy. You’d see way more suffering, way more carnage. We fight to keep humanity from going totally crazy. Somebody has to step up.” Even if one may not completely agree with the philosophy, it does cause one to think. It is the inclusion of such moral questions that elevate a book beyond the ordinary to someone about which one thinks long after closing the cover.
Boyle is an author who also knows how to convey emotions and people reactions to tension and stress. That's not an easy thing to do, but he does it extremely well.
“Once Burned” is a very good book that is well-plotted and with excellent tension all the way through.
ONCE BURNED (Lic Invest/Reporter-Jack McMorrow-Maine-Contemp) – VG
Boyle, Gerry – 10th in series
Islandport Press – May 2015
The body of a woman, with a large burn scar on one side of her face, is found in a local forest. With no way to identify her, the police release her photo to the media asking for the public’s help.
Money is tight, in the McMorrow family, now that Jack and Roxanne have a daughter, Roxanne is no longer working as a social worker, and they have to depend on the free-lance stories Jack sells to the New York Times and other outlets. An arson fire in the small town of Sanctuary just might prove the story Jack needs. Rather than being a single incident, it quickly becomes clear that someone has an agenda, and the town is happy to accuse those who are most vulnerable. Roxanne finds she can’t separate from her old job as much as she’d planned when she, and her family, are threatened by the drug-addicted mother whose child died when placed in foster care.
There’s nothing like a strong opening, and Boyle starts us off with a very frightening, yet compelling, prologue, immediately followed by a beginning which guarantees impending disaster.
Boyle has created a cast of characters we what to know on an ongoing basis. As well as Jack and Roxanne, he has also created one of the most appealing, least annoying, children in Sofie. Then there are their neighbors and friends Mary and her husband, Clair, the ex-Marine Commando who always has Jack’s back. Additionally, there are secondary characters who are fully developed and hold their own.
The dialogue is excellent. It flows very naturally and is appropriate to the characters and their relationships. “Are you going to return our firearms?” Clair said. “What if I don’t?” Foley said. “I’ll have to go back to the house and get some more.” Clair said.
There are also good lessons to be learned about how much control one does, and does not, have and where one’s responsibilities ends, as well as providing those moments that cause one to stop and consider…”Every society has a warrior class. Without that we have anarchy. You’d see way more suffering, way more carnage. We fight to keep humanity from going totally crazy. Somebody has to step up.” Even if one may not completely agree with the philosophy, it does cause one to think. It is the inclusion of such moral questions that elevate a book beyond the ordinary to someone about which one thinks long after closing the cover.
Boyle is an author who also knows how to convey emotions and people reactions to tension and stress. That's not an easy thing to do, but he does it extremely well.
“Once Burned” is a very good book that is well-plotted and with excellent tension all the way through.
ONCE BURNED (Lic Invest/Reporter-Jack McMorrow-Maine-Contemp) – VG
Boyle, Gerry – 10th in series
Islandport Press – May 2015
May 28, 2016
An excellent crime thriller in the style of Dashiel Hammett but instead of the Continental Op, we have a hard-boiled investigative reporter, Jack McMorrow. While this book is #10 in the series, and it is the first one I have read, I didn't feel that it would have been necessary to read the preceding titles.
Great stuff; Mainers will love it!
Great stuff; Mainers will love it!
March 9, 2019
Been awhile since I caught up with Jack, and I'm sure glad I did. It's always fun to join him in his scramble over the back roads of an alternative Waldo County. I'm learning to appreciate a well-written mystery more and more, and Gerry Boyle's skill for the right detail at the right time, for a hero with enough weakness to make you wonder, make his books a valuable education.
Appreciated, especially, McMorrow's sentence on my adopted home: "It was an optimistic sort of town, a little tired but still trying, with coffee shops and a book store and orange signs that told motorists to stop for pedestrians."
Appreciated, especially, McMorrow's sentence on my adopted home: "It was an optimistic sort of town, a little tired but still trying, with coffee shops and a book store and orange signs that told motorists to stop for pedestrians."
July 8, 2022
Pretty good mystery as journalist Jack McMorrow investigates a series of arson fires in a small Maine town that become progressively more destructive, eventually culminating in murder. A subplot involving his social worker wife and a drug-addicted mother bent on revenge after her child is taken from her and dies in foster care is less successful.
February 11, 2018
This is the first Gerry Boyle book that I've read. I find Jack McMorrow and his family and friends to be interesting, multi-layered individuals that certainly aren't boring. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more Jack McMorrow novels.
April 1, 2020
Enjoyed #10 in this series. I never realized reporter's lived such dangerous lives.... and in Maine! Good to catch up to well known characters and meet new Maine deadbeats.. Poor Jack's family lives through his trauma's too.. thank God for his neighbor Clair, my favorite character.
December 31, 2017
One of the finest of this very under-appreciated mystery series. Also, completed my 2017 challenge with this book with 6 hours and 50 minutes to spare.
August 12, 2015
I won a copy of Once Burned: A Jack McMorrow Mystery from Goodreads.
Everyone in the small town of Sanctuary, Maine, feels threatened by a Serial arsonist, yet, some citizens are not so eager for journalist Jack McMorrow to dig up their pasts. Including, of course, the arsonist. Meanwhile, a few miles away, Jack's family is threatened by a volatile couple who blame Jack's wife for their son's death. As the threats heat up, so does the tension in Boyle's novel.
Once Burned is a true page-turner with multiple intense plot lines that keep the reader engaged. Even as the reader realizes who the arsonist is, the tension only grows. Readers won't be able to put down this tightly plotted novel until the last page is turned.
Gerry Boyle has created a novel full of fascinating characters, including a protagonist readers want to succeed, all in a setting as beautiful as it is menacing. Once Burned is for readers who don't mind staying up all night reading until they know how it all turns out.
Everyone in the small town of Sanctuary, Maine, feels threatened by a Serial arsonist, yet, some citizens are not so eager for journalist Jack McMorrow to dig up their pasts. Including, of course, the arsonist. Meanwhile, a few miles away, Jack's family is threatened by a volatile couple who blame Jack's wife for their son's death. As the threats heat up, so does the tension in Boyle's novel.
Once Burned is a true page-turner with multiple intense plot lines that keep the reader engaged. Even as the reader realizes who the arsonist is, the tension only grows. Readers won't be able to put down this tightly plotted novel until the last page is turned.
Gerry Boyle has created a novel full of fascinating characters, including a protagonist readers want to succeed, all in a setting as beautiful as it is menacing. Once Burned is for readers who don't mind staying up all night reading until they know how it all turns out.
October 21, 2015
I haven't read the McMorrow series in order, but that's okay.
This tenth book is charged with bird song, critter noise, fleshed-out characters, terse and effective dialog, and a ripping story of long festering deeds and obsessions.
Jack McMorrow and Roxanne have married and their daughter, Sophie, is their delight as they make a life in Prosperity, ME, next door to faithful friends Clair and Mary Varney. Pony Pokey makes life bearable and routine until a series of arson fires unleashes yet another Jack Attack as a stringer for The New York Times. As usual, his investigative work leads him down dangerous roads made more so by a case in Roxanne's social working past that leads to various sorts of disasters.
As usual...things are not as they seem and Boyle holds readers by the ear and nose until the last few pages.
Once burned, twice cautious. Or not?
This tenth book is charged with bird song, critter noise, fleshed-out characters, terse and effective dialog, and a ripping story of long festering deeds and obsessions.
Jack McMorrow and Roxanne have married and their daughter, Sophie, is their delight as they make a life in Prosperity, ME, next door to faithful friends Clair and Mary Varney. Pony Pokey makes life bearable and routine until a series of arson fires unleashes yet another Jack Attack as a stringer for The New York Times. As usual, his investigative work leads him down dangerous roads made more so by a case in Roxanne's social working past that leads to various sorts of disasters.
As usual...things are not as they seem and Boyle holds readers by the ear and nose until the last few pages.
Once burned, twice cautious. Or not?
August 27, 2015
I discovered Gerry Boyle's delightful Jack McMorrow series while in Maine many years ago. This latest installment is a great addition to a strong string of books. McMorrow is a freelance investigative reporter who specializes in crime. His reportorial style - posing thorny questions based on an insatiable thirst for detail - often puts him ahead of the "real" investigators, and in trouble with both sides of the law. If you enjoy ONCE BURNED, look forward to catching up on the nine prequels this Fall.
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November 26, 2015Probably because I live in Msaine, I love Gerry Boyle. This was a good story, tightly written, with great permanent characters and good "disposable" ones as well. The plot was firm, action driven. My only criticism was of the Roxanne character. The actions involving her as Child Protective Worker are wrong. I was a CP worker and, so as not to spoil the plot, the story, as Boyle writes it, could not have happened as it did in this novel. It did not diminish or ruin the story so it is unimportant for anyone who was not "on the job."
November 28, 2023
Good read but the sub-plot of his wife taking on the guilt regarding the death of a child of her former client is unnecessary, feels forced and never well resolved. It's as though the author put it there just to create emotional tension or distraction in Jack McMorrow's family. The main plot line of the arson investigation is certainly interesting enough without the unbelievable extra baggage.
June 9, 2015
Excellent entry in this series that I have enjoyed throughout.
Boyle does an especially good job using small details such as what type of bird is singing at what time of day to convey life in the Maine coastal forest.
Boyle does an especially good job using small details such as what type of bird is singing at what time of day to convey life in the Maine coastal forest.
February 11, 2016
This was a very good novel and I can't wait to recommend this to friends!
June 27, 2015
Boyle and McMorrow do it again.
I am glad you are both back and don't stay away so long.
Vintage McMorrow, protecting his family, the story and the truth.
I am glad you are both back and don't stay away so long.
Vintage McMorrow, protecting his family, the story and the truth.
August 29, 2015
Really enjoyed this book.
February 10, 2020
I jumped in on the McMorrow series late. Once Burned makes me want to go back to the beginning to catch up.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews