REAL SPIES DON’T USE ROWBOATS
Of boys, J.B.S. Haldane (1892-1964) said: “A fairly bright boy is far more intelligent and far better company than the average adult.” And that surely describes grade-school brothers Sam and John Hassenfuss of Cricket Cove, Maine.
“Real Spies Don’t Use Rowboats” is central Maine author Jeffrey Hope’s debut novel for young readers, 8-12 years old. It’s the first volume in his “The Boy Spies of Maine” series, an ambitious and fun effort to chronicle boys growing up in an age when it was OK to just be boys.
Set in 1976, the story introduces John (11) and Sam (10), brothers who display all the imagination, cleverness, humor, innocence, wackiness and sincerity one would expect of young boys who worship Agent 007 and want to be spies just like James Bond. They have their own two-member club, the James Bond Society, and are writing their own spy manual, the “JBS Rules of Survival Handbook.” And these kids are hilarious.
Hope clearly enjoyed writing this book, for it is filled with funny boy adventures and the comical “Leave to Beaver”-style challenges of dealing with parents and other adults. The boys have an old rowboat they call the Tub, but it has no motor and real spies can’t escape from villains by rowing. Their adventures involve getting an outboard motor, traveling to New York City with their parents, and meeting an elderly aunt who regales them with fanciful stories of her work as a detective (more lessons for the spy handbook).
Add in typical hilarious boy situations like long car trips (“Are we there yet?”), listening to Dad’s “Work Voice” explaining things, testing the parents with a swear word, and Mom’s magic word: “Pizza!” This will delight anyone who has been a boy or wishes they had been.
HARD LINE: THE FINAL JACK MCMORROW MYSTERY
Well, it has finally happened. Acclaimed Maine author Gerry Boyle has written the last book in his popular mystery series featuring resourceful newspaper reporter Jack McMorrow. “Hard Line” is the 14th and final novel in the series, begun in 1993 with “Dead Line.”
As a former newspaper reporter himself, Boyle is a masterful storyteller, writing mysteries with clarity, authentic dialogue and atmosphere, always with colorful elements of suspense and menace. And “Hard Line” delivers so much more. Readers should note, however, that it would be best if the previous book, “Robbed Blind,” is read first. This book is a continuation of the plot lines left unresolved in “Robbed Blind.”
By now Jack is no longer a reporter for the New York Times (he was fired), caught up in a downward spiraling cycle of danger and violence involving four plot lines that threaten everyone he loves, his family and friends. Jack carries a gun instead of a notebook and pen, and finds himself questioning his motives and resolve when faced with deadly choices.
He has made many enemies in his career, and now must face a ruthless outlaw motorcycle gang determined to kill to get what they want, as well as the crazed gun-nuts in the Patriot Legion militia who hate his guts, and an unpredictable armed robber dubbed the Zombie. Finally, he is also suspicious of his grandchildren’s drama coach. Add a million dollars of stolen drug money, a devious woman who preys on good-hearted people, and a sheriff’s detective who thinks Jack is a vigilante.
This is probably the most violent and gritty of all the McMorrow novels, and even Jack dishes out a good portion of it (and he enjoys it, too). He makes a fateful decision at the end, and his life will never be normal again.
Bill Bushnell lives and writes in Harpswell.