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Jack Doyle Mysteries #2
Close Call: A Jack Doyle Mystery
Ex-amateur boxer and failed advertising account executive Jack Doyle, hero of Blind Switch, returns to the world of thoroughbred horse racing at a suburban Chicago track in this new thriller by the author of award-winning Riders Down. With the help of furrier-to-the-mob Moe Kellman, Doyle is hired as publicity director at Monee Park, a struggling suburban Chicago track owned by heiress Celia McCann. Celia is fighting to keep the business afloat while awaiting passage of a law allowing the introduction of lucrative video slot machines at Monee Park. Meanwhile, she is under pressure from her co-heir and cousin, Niall Hanratty, to close the track and sell the valuable property to real estate developers. Working hard to convince Celia to sell are a pair of hired thugs from Chicagoas Canaryville neighborhood. Celia, whose husband is afflicted with ALS, is determined to maintain the business inherited from her beloved uncle Jim Joyce. The exploits of star sprinter Rambling Rosie help Celiaas cause, as do the efforts of the redoubtable Doyle, again a somewhat reluctant knight errant who rises to the occasion when needed. Written from an insideras viewpoint, and featuring a robust cast of offbeat characters, Close Call provides entertaining insight into the unique world of American horse racing with a climax as exciting as a Derby photo finish.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2008
25 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
John McEvoy
20 books9 followersJohn McEvoy, former editor and senior correspondent for Daily Racing Form, is the author of five non-fiction books on thorougbred horse racing, including the award-winning Great Horse Racing Mysteries. Photo Finish is his fifth mystery novel and fourth featuring the adventurous Jack Doyle. One of McEvoy's earlier novels, Riders Down, won a Ben Franklin Award. He and his wife Judy live in Evanston, Illinois.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 1, 2024
I almost didn't finish this one. Poor pacing. Either empty or cliche characters, or both. The premise was interesting and some of the insight into horse racing was interesting, but this was not a good noir book - so many others out there that are more entertaining.
When your main character doesn't do much sleuthing or fighting or general rabble rousing that you come to expect from a noir anti-hero, there isn't much to read about. Add on to that, the fact that every time the main character opens his mouth/thinks to himself, he sounds like a teacher giving a lesson. I mean what person is actually going to recite the economic statistics of Ireland once he finds out his boss is sending him there on a trip?
This is probably more like a 1.5 star book, but I did finish it so there must have been something there...maybe?
When your main character doesn't do much sleuthing or fighting or general rabble rousing that you come to expect from a noir anti-hero, there isn't much to read about. Add on to that, the fact that every time the main character opens his mouth/thinks to himself, he sounds like a teacher giving a lesson. I mean what person is actually going to recite the economic statistics of Ireland once he finds out his boss is sending him there on a trip?
This is probably more like a 1.5 star book, but I did finish it so there must have been something there...maybe?
May 24, 2010
PROTAGONIST: Jack Doyle
SETTING: Chicago, Illinois
SERIES: #2 of 2
RATING: 3.25
Monee Park in Chicago is a racetrack that is struggling to stay open. Jim Joyce, the original owner, bequeathed the track to his niece Celia McCann, and Irish nephew, Niall Hanratty, with a 51-49% split. Celia feels that the track will get back on its feet with the passage of a pending bill allowing for video game machines to be installed at horse tracks. Following the advice of a local sleazy lawyer, Niall wants to sell out and cash in right away instead of having to wait years for any money to come his way.
At the recommendation of Moe Kellman, furrier to the Mob, Celia hires former boxer and advertising executive Jack Doyle to be the track's publicist. He immediately dives in and launches several efforts to raise the track's profile. His success is hampered, however, by several incidents which appear to be designed to shut the track down. Although not an investigator, Jack puts the evidence together and is involved in thwarting a series of exciting and suspenseful attempts to destroy the track.
Doyle finds himself powerfully attracted to Celia McCann, a situation which is impossible. Celia is married to a former basketball star, Bob Zaslow, who is in the final stages of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Zaslow is a fine and noble person; even knowing that, Jack has difficulty in turning off his feelings. McEvoy did a superb job of developing this particular thread of the narrative; the way that events unfold are realistic and non-cliched.
The other thing in the book that didn't quite work for me was the sprinkling of various stories and jokes into the narrative. Some of them were relevant; but most of the time they didn't relate to the events at hand and seemed to be there because it was something that the author enjoyed. Some of these side forays went on for several pages and broke up the narrative for me, serving as unnecessary filler.
One of my favorite parts of the book was the little character studies that McEvoy created for various secondary characters. He developed wonderful portraits of an old horse owner, a female Mexican groomer, the chef for the jockeys. They were the most real characters for me! The major characters didn't seem nearly as true to life. In particular, Niall was inconsistent, ranging from nice and thoughtful to evil and greedy and back again.
Because of John McEvoy's long experience as a racing journalist, there was a sense of authenticity about the workings of the track, a behind-the-scenes view that could only be created by someone who was intimately familiar with the scene. In addition, McEvoy resisted the temptation to follow the expected path for his characters and the plot, which I found very refreshing.
SETTING: Chicago, Illinois
SERIES: #2 of 2
RATING: 3.25
Monee Park in Chicago is a racetrack that is struggling to stay open. Jim Joyce, the original owner, bequeathed the track to his niece Celia McCann, and Irish nephew, Niall Hanratty, with a 51-49% split. Celia feels that the track will get back on its feet with the passage of a pending bill allowing for video game machines to be installed at horse tracks. Following the advice of a local sleazy lawyer, Niall wants to sell out and cash in right away instead of having to wait years for any money to come his way.
At the recommendation of Moe Kellman, furrier to the Mob, Celia hires former boxer and advertising executive Jack Doyle to be the track's publicist. He immediately dives in and launches several efforts to raise the track's profile. His success is hampered, however, by several incidents which appear to be designed to shut the track down. Although not an investigator, Jack puts the evidence together and is involved in thwarting a series of exciting and suspenseful attempts to destroy the track.
Doyle finds himself powerfully attracted to Celia McCann, a situation which is impossible. Celia is married to a former basketball star, Bob Zaslow, who is in the final stages of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Zaslow is a fine and noble person; even knowing that, Jack has difficulty in turning off his feelings. McEvoy did a superb job of developing this particular thread of the narrative; the way that events unfold are realistic and non-cliched.
The other thing in the book that didn't quite work for me was the sprinkling of various stories and jokes into the narrative. Some of them were relevant; but most of the time they didn't relate to the events at hand and seemed to be there because it was something that the author enjoyed. Some of these side forays went on for several pages and broke up the narrative for me, serving as unnecessary filler.
One of my favorite parts of the book was the little character studies that McEvoy created for various secondary characters. He developed wonderful portraits of an old horse owner, a female Mexican groomer, the chef for the jockeys. They were the most real characters for me! The major characters didn't seem nearly as true to life. In particular, Niall was inconsistent, ranging from nice and thoughtful to evil and greedy and back again.
Because of John McEvoy's long experience as a racing journalist, there was a sense of authenticity about the workings of the track, a behind-the-scenes view that could only be created by someone who was intimately familiar with the scene. In addition, McEvoy resisted the temptation to follow the expected path for his characters and the plot, which I found very refreshing.
April 1, 2016
Not as much awful violence as usual.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews