Spiked (Poisoned Pen Press Mystery) - Softcover

Arsenault, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743487060 ISBN 13: 9780743487061

Publisher: UNKNO, 2004

Synopsis

While Lowell, Massachusetts, political reporter Eddie Bourque searches for his partner's killer, he stumbles upon a bigger story of murder and revenge that he is forced to risk his own life to uncover. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author:

Mark Arsenault has been a paperboy, a “section stuffer,” a newspaper delivery truck driver, a paste-up artist and, since 1989, a reporter. He presently covers state politics for The Providence Journal. When he is not at his keyboard, you might find him on the side of a mountain. He lives in Cranston, Rhode Island. Spiked is his first novel.

From Publishers Weekly:

Rhode Island journalist Arsenault, like many writers, can't resist stuffing everything he knows into his first novel, at least until the second half, when the pace picks up and the focus tightens. In the fading manufacturing city of Lowell, Mass., Eddie Bourque, a political reporter for the shoddy Lowell Empire, looks into the brutal murder of his newspaper beat partner and rival, Danny Nowlin. Bourque suspects the killing is tied to a story Nowlin was working on under cover, but the newspaper's owners, high up in Lowell's power structure, discourage Bourque from pursuing his investigation. The author brings Lowell with its slums, empty factories and vying political factions vividly alive. He peoples his novel with quirky, memorable characters: Gabrielle and Leo, two sweet, impoverished heroin addicts; Stan Popko, the Empire's computer whiz and comedian wannabe; Gordon Phife, the talented city editor with whom Bourque hits golf balls off of the newspaper building's roof; and police detective Lucy Orr, a robust, dogged investigator. As Bourque probes Nowlin's secrets, he finds a confusing assortment of violent people with conflicting motives out to get him. A fine writer, Arsenault keeps the tension building right up to the surprise ending. One hopes he's kept some good stuff for his next book.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: UNKNO
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0743487060
• ISBN 13: 9780743487061
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 309