Home Body
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TL;DR: Suspend disbelief about why the main character is doing what he is, and you’ll find an action-filled book with plenty of mystery and excellent characters.
Jack McMorrow comes across a street fight in Portland, breaks it up, and becomes connected with the target of the fight, a runaway named Rocky. Rocky later ends up following Jack to his home in the fictional Waldo County town of Prosperity, but then disappearing and hiding from his abusive stepfather and Jack alike. Jack continues trying to track Rocky down, all the while dealing with the fallout from doing so - attacks by his stepfather, suspicious gossip and sideeye at work, and threats to Roxanne, his pregnant girlfriend. As he tries to find Rocky, Jack is also trying to figure out just why the young man is running and hiding.
Initially, I had a hard time with this book. Why is Jack continuously inserting himself into this kid’s life, putting his own career and his girlfriend’s career on the line? Why not just talk honestly to the police - or find different law enforcement to talk to- and stop spending time with teenagers who live on the street? Once you get over this aspect of the book and just enjoy the story, it will keep your attention and make you want to know the answers to the various mysteries that crop up. There is more than one death to be solved, an intrigue of the past to be figured out, and plenty of action. The book ends with a riveting chase scene and answers to every mystery the reader is wondering about. There was one significant twist I was not expecting, though it explained much.
The book is also full of interesting, well-crafted characters. From the wealthy newspaper owner that employs Jack to Rocky’s “friends” who live on the streets of Bangor, the characters are compelling and the reader grows to care about what happens to them - whether you’re hoping they get out and make a good life, or end up in the hands of the justice system.
As an additional note, this is part of a series by Gerry Boyle featuring Jack McMorrow, but Home Body is fine to read as a standalone.