Of course, Maine turns out to be as dangerous as New York when one of his employees, a photographer no one really cared for, mysteriously drowns in the river. The local police and prominent townspeople would prefer that the case go away as easily as the photographer did.

But Jack, his reporter's instincts kicking in, thinks there's more to what many want to write off as an accidental drowning. That turns out to be true, of course, and it isn't long before this reporter is being threatened by everyone from the local redneck to the wealthy widow in town....and some of them are using more than just words to get their point across. This makes Jack even more interested in solving the mystery, especially when rumors of child pornography surface. And when they start threatening his lady love, Roxanne, he gets even more determined. The results of all this only make for a fairly interesting read.

Deadline starts off intriguing enough, but the story slows down and sometimes gets bogged down in descriptions of the Maine wilderness and details of what running a weekly newspaper is like. And while that does make interesting reading, it shouldn't be a substitute for the investigation of and the solution of a mystery. As for the mystery itself, the solution isn't all that surprising; the most obvious suspect is exactly the one that did the killing.

This novel also has the annoying habit of having the hero get constantly beaten up, shot at and otherwise physically endangered (and let's not get into what he goes through at the climax of the book) only to survive relatively unscathed. I know this is supposed to make him tough, but even Superman had to lick his wounds every once in awhile.

This is the first in a series and there are many more out now. Judging by this endeavor, I haven't been inclined to look for the continuing adventures of Jack McMorrow.

--Anthony D. Langford