Counting Coup

by G.D. Gearino

A jaded newspaper columnist is jolted back to reality when a reader who had called him for help turns up dead two days later, and during his efforts to find out why, he begins to feel that he has been given a second chance at life

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

G.D. (Dan) Gearino, a thirty-year veteran of the newspaper and magazine industry, has worked as a reporter, columnist and editor for publications in Florida, Colorado, Wyoming, Michigan, Montana and Alberta, Canada. He joined the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. as business editor in 1993, and later spent ten years writing a well-regarded and award-winning column.

Gearino was born in Atlanta and is a 1975 graduate of the University of Georgia, where he earned a degree in film studies.

In the early 1990s, Gearino embarked on a second career as a novelist. His first book, “What the Deaf-Mute Heard,” was published by Simon & Schuster in January 1996, and was the winner of the 1996 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, North Carolina’s top fiction prize.

A Hallmark Hall of Fame production of the novel was broadcast on CBS in November 1997, and was the highest-rated TV movie of the decade. It also was the top movie in Hallmark’s history, in terms of total numbers of viewers, and received three Emmy nominations. His second book, “Counting Coup,” was published in July 1997 and a third novel, “Blue Hole,” was published in August 1999. His most recent novel, “Wrong Guy,” was published in October 2005. Work on a fifth book has commenced.

Gearino also is the winner of Chowan College’s Hobson Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters, and the Grady Award from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism, given for career achievement.

Reviews

[John Siphers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading Gearino's books after a long time; I must have lent my copy of Deaf Mute to someone long ago; as that's now gone, so I have Counting Coup and Blue Hole to go back to. I remembered some pieces of Counting Coup, but not all, and I enjoyed the unraveling of the story once again. The main character and narrator is the sort of snarky anti-hero that's easy to root for. The (overtly substantial) foreshadowing makes it hard to put this book down, and the wrap to the story doesn't become apparent until the final pages. I found the one sub-plot with Tad's mother to be unnecessary; maybe it helped complete the background of the character, but small town folks can be remote and lonely without a touch of tragedy in their past. In all, however, it's a pleasure to read and I heartily recommend it.

[Susan Dennis]

If you were paying attention at the top of this page, you might have noticed that gearino's first book - What the Deaf Mute Heard was my favorite book last year. I know it's early but Counting Coup pretty much has it nailed for this year. A newspaper columnist has a special life and this newspaper columnist's life is more special than most. He makes two disastrous decisions. The plot is complicated and intricate and incredibly satisfying. But the telling of it is nothing short of delicious. gearino makes every single word count. He wastes nothing. His books make reading a truly sensual experience. Treat yourself to one or both!!

[Rebekah Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you grew up in the rural South, even decades after the events described here, you will appreciate this book. If you like mysteries, you will also appreciate this book, as it is as much a mystery as anything else, just not the usual detective sort. Well written, humorous at times, & full of complex characters, it's everything I want in a book.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

G. D. Gearino, Counting Coup (Simon and Schuster, 1997)

I'm sure most of the people who read Counting Coup will see the last ten pages coming from a mile out; I was completely blindsided by them, and that's probably coloring my judgment of this little gem. It was raised from a competent, wicked novel about a southern mystery into the realm of the truly great whodunits. In fact, the montage of revelations in those last ten pages feels a whole lot like the montage of revelations Chazz Palminteri goes through in the last few minutes of The Usual Suspects. Yeah, it's that good.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tad Beckman's first editor once told him that journalists get cocky, and then they take a big fall. In the opening pages of this novel, that's exactly what happens to Beckman, the kind of op-ed guy everyone wants to tell their problems to; he's having a bad day, a woman tries to tell him her problems, he's brusque with her, and she ends up very nastily dead. He then disappears for a year, and upon his return to civilization, a cause, and a reason to start writing op-ed pages again, almost literally falls into his lap. It's too much to pass up, and Beckman starts digging into the details of the life of the man whose wife he's now acquainted with, the man who wants to buy his historic-landmark apartment building and tear it down, an all-around nasty guy if ever there was one. He just can't get over the idea that something is just a little bit off...

I realized how much was going to like this book when I hit the halfway point, was still involved in the setup (that year-long disappearance, and his getting involved in the mystery at hand, takes quite a while), and realized I didn't care. In the hands of a less talented author, that much setup for fifty or so pages of actual mystery can be a slow-moving disaster; Gearino uses it to weave in not only clues as to what's happening, but events from Beckman's childhood to make us understand why he's so eager to take on a new cause celebre as soon as he gets back to civilization. Gearino makes us understand his charge; that, more than anything, is what propels this book into the stratosphere. Well, that and the last ten pages. **** ½

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE this author. I first read WHAT THE DEAF MUTE HEARD and have recently started reading COUNTING COUP. It is a fast, interesting and exciting read about a journalist who wants to do right by writing. Check it out.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again...a wonderful literary inspiration! G D Gearino has a new novel "Wando Stuckey" nearing completion... I can't wait...I have one novel of his left to read before then..."Wrong Guy" ...