Rating: 
Summary: The Best One Yet!
Review: As a fan of Brian McGrory's books I eagerly anticipated the third installment of McGrory's character, Jack Flynn, and I was not disappointed! I think "Dead Line" is perhaps the best of the three books. Hopefully McGrory will write a fourth!
Rating:
Summary: The Best One Yet!
Review: As a fan of Brian McGrory's books I eagerly anticipated the third installment of McGrory's character, Jack Flynn, and I was not disappointed! I think "Dead Line" is perhaps the best of the three books. Hopefully McGrory will write a fourth!
Rating:
Summary: We love Jack Flynn
Review: I have read the first two books written by McGrory - The Incumbent, and The Nominee - just finished his latest, Deadline, and think this might be his best one yet. Funny, sad (one chapter had me in tears),riveting plot, exciting twists and turns throughout, and characters that jump off of the page. I plan on pulling this book out again in a month and re-reading, the biggest compliment I could ever pay to an author!!
Rating:
Summary: Jack Flynn, Better Than Ever
Review: I'll bet there were at least a dozen times in this book when I laughed out loud, it was so funny. I mean, seriously laughed out loud, with my wife looking at me and asking what I was doing, but it never seems as funny when you have to explain. The strangest part is, Dead Line isn't a comedy or parady, and out of the three Jack Flynn books I've read, this one is definately the darkest of them all. It's not as dark as Dennis LeHane, but it seems like everyone has lost something big.Jack Flynn, the very likable newsman/narrator, is always right there with a quick aside that usually comes out of nowhere. He sees the world as I'd see it, always poking fun at himself and the situations he finds himself in. And Vinnie, his trusty sidekick, is the same way, only more cynical. There wasn't a character in this book I didn't like. I'll go so far as to say this was the best book I've read this year, and I had high expectations after the first two, The Incumbent and The Nominee. This one, though, had more of a believable plot that had to do with the real-life theft of millions of dollars in paintings from a Boston museum in the early 90s. You learn a lot about art, about Boston politics, and about news reporters and how they do their jobs. And you laugh. At one point, I cried too, but I don't want to give that away. I'll never look at a politician or a newspaper in the same way again, and now I'm already waiting for the next Jack Flynn book to come out.
Rating: 
Summary: guys who blend Boston smarts with a touch of class
Review: Lawyer Hilary Kane comes home early from a business trip only to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman. Instead of clubbing him with Big Bertha, Hilary chucks him for the Ritz Carlton where she drinks at the bar when Boston Mayor Daniel Harkins arrives. Hilary and Daniel end up in his room for the night. As she goes to sneak out of their room while he is asleep, she cannot resist peaking into his computer files where she finds a link to his allegedly estranged son Toby the mobster, who the Mayor has sworn he has not had contact with in a decade. Also in those files is a link between Toby terrible and the thirteen years ago robbery of eleven paintings worth thirty million dollars from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Not long afterward someone kills Hilary. Boston Record reporter Jack Flynn vows to uncover the truth. DEAD LINE is an exciting investigative tale that never slows down from the moment that Hilary uncovers the mayor's secrets (aside: the painting theft is a real incident that obviously adds realism) until the final confrontation. However, though the plot is exhilarating Jack's obsession to solve this due to remorse seems weird because his despondency does not seem linked to the victim. Instead his regrets tie back to his pregnant girlfriend reporter Elizabeth Riggs ending their New England Turnpike relationship. Still fans of the series (see THE NOMINEE) will appreciate Jack's Beantown romp, but newcomers will wonder why he races this marathon. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: exciting investigative tale
Review: Lawyer Hilary Kane comes home early from a business trip only to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman. Instead of clubbing him with Big Bertha, Hilary chucks him for the Ritz Carlton where she drinks at the bar when Boston Mayor Daniel Harkins arrives. Hilary and Daniel end up in his room for the night. As she goes to sneak out of their room while he is asleep, she cannot resist peaking into his computer files where she finds a link to his allegedly estranged son Toby the mobster, who the Mayor has sworn he has not had contact with in a decade. Also in those files is a link between Toby terrible and the thirteen years ago robbery of eleven paintings worth thirty million dollars from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Not long afterward someone kills Hilary. Boston Record reporter Jack Flynn vows to uncover the truth. DEAD LINE is an exciting investigative tale that never slows down from the moment that Hilary uncovers the mayor's secrets (aside: the painting theft is a real incident that obviously adds realism) until the final confrontation. However, though the plot is exhilarating Jack's obsession to solve this due to remorse seems weird because his despondency does not seem linked to the victim. Instead his regrets tie back to his pregnant girlfriend reporter Elizabeth Riggs ending their New England Turnpike relationship. Still fans of the series (see THE NOMINEE) will appreciate Jack's Beantown romp, but newcomers will wonder why he races this marathon. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: How can you help but like Jack Flynn?
Review: My favorite investigative reporter is back, this time solving the murder of a young Boston lawyer whose reckless one-night stand with the Mayor of Boston gets her killed. The senseless murder is linked to an old, unsolved art heist, which in turn is linked to the Mayor's fugitive crime-lord son. As Jack is drawn into the unfolding mystery, he helplessly watches as his personal life comes crashing down around him.
Jack Flynn is as likable a character as any I have read. The intrepid reporter is dedicted to furthering the public good by exposing ugly truths to daylight. He seems to live in a world populated by a higher-than-normal percentage of beautiful, successful, intelligent women who are attracted to him. Yet the history of tragedy in his own life, coupled with a terrifically self-deprecating sense of humor make him a very sympathetic character.
Through Flynn, McGrory takes us on a fast-paced quest for truth and justice with deft plot twists and a smooth, conversational narrative that makes all of his books a real pleasure to read. The only problem is that, just as with the other two Jack Flynn novels, you'll read it too fast and the fun will be over too soon.
Rating: 
Summary: A well written work lacking originality
Review: Sometimes it is the voice of the character that could make or break a book with the reader. This is especially apparent in a character driven mystery. In this case, it is the voice of the Boston Globe reporter Jack Flynn that did not appeal to this reader.
Jack Flynn is called away from an important Boston Red Sox game to receive some information in a dark and seedy factory. The information, provided by an FBI agent is that the Mayor's son is involved in the heist of several priceless paintings from the Gardner Museum. Flynn writes the story and a young woman winds up dead in a parking garage. Flynn's fear is that the woman's death is tied to the story he wrote. He decides to investigate while trying to confront and conquer some issues in his past.
DEAD LINE is billed as a "sensational thriller". This simply is not true. It is a well written highly character driven amateur PI story that, in spite of the fine writing, never manages to rise above the merely ordinary. Wise cracking PIs seem to have thankfully gone out of vogue some five years ago when it seemed every other book contained this main character. This lighthearted approach to serious matters can often be used as a means of balance. However, in this case, the wisecracks were unnecessary and served to bring down the quality of the work. Is it humorous or is it serious? There are enough issues in Jack Flynn's life that serious should have ruled the day. The plot, again is quite ordinary and is the type of work that has been done many times before. The mystery of the murder is not compelling enough to turn the pages and the excessive descriptions of the character's personal life (such as a full chapter devoted to a description of his dog) serves only to slow down the plot even further. The bottom line is that DEAD LINE is a well written work that lacks any true originality.
Rating:
Summary: guys who blend Boston smarts with a touch of class
Review: The past few years have been terrific for folk who like books starring Boston detectives. Angels and Demons, The DaVinci Code, The Dante Club, Mystic River and now Dead Line feature guys who blend Boston smarts with a touch of class. This fast moving thriller by the Boston Globe's Brian McGrory is no exception.
With a perfect feel for Boston at its best (Franklin Park Golf Course) and its worst (political corruption that's all in the family) reporter Jack Flynn reminds the longtime reader of Fletch, another Boston sleuth portrayed by Globe writer Greg MacDonald who explored Back Bay byways in the 70's.
Flash forward to the twenty first century, and the hero is still grid locked on the Central Artery, still waiting for the Red Sox to banish the curse and still investigating crooked pols and their innocent victims.
This time, Flynn suffers from blunders and blotched relationships. Along with brooding over lost loves and an ailing dog, he's filled with guilt over the death of a beautiful lawyer whose shooting death in a Beacon Hill parking lot is tied up with the unsolved robbery of masterpiece paintings from the very Brahmin Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum.
Venturing to Paris and Rome (what is it about Boston detectives and the Louvre entrance - first Robert Langdon and now Jack Flynn?), proves to be less cultural and more culture shock. Throughout his adventures, Flynn receives well placed tips from honchos and well placed kicks from henchmen, Advice from Hank Sweeney, mentor and retired Boston Police Department detective, sums up the hairy chases: "Be very, very careful about who you trust, in life, but especially on this story." Flynn survives, just barely, and in a way, that you know there's a sequel due in a year or so - when the Big Dig has banished The Central Artery and Boston is still dealing with good guys turned bad and vice versa.
Rating:
Summary: McGrory Hit HR - Red Sox Championship next?
Review: This is, without a doubt, McGrory's best book yet. I can't tell you how much I laughed and could not put it down. I love Jack Flynn, who has quickly become one of my favorite literary heroes. I don't generally read book after book with one character, but Flynn is indeed the exception. He is charming, honest (to a fault?), and funny. McGrory even makes me feel deeply for Baker the dog and I've never owned a dog. Yet, the parts of the book that deal with Baker made me understand the love that dog owners have in a way that all the people I know in real life who have dogs never got me to see. Even more, the plot is more restrained. The first book, a good read, was too outlandish. This book was more believable. We spend a lot of time in Jack's pysche as he finally wrestles with his pain. The pain was honest and sad. My only complaint is that Jack spends too much time beating himself up over Hilary Kane (too much). However, the secondary characters are great. Mongillo, Martin, etc. I like the way he handled the relationship with Riggs as well. McGrory is growing and I can't wait for the next book...will be before the Sox win a World Series? Probably...
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