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Gerry Boyle Books in Order

Explore Gerry Boyle books in order, with Jack McMorrow and Brandon Blake series lists, short summaries, and a clear guide to where to start.

Last updated: July 13, 2026

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Gerry Boyle books in publication order

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18 books

Deadline

by Gerry Boyle

1993

In a Maine mill town, newcomer Jack McMorrow questions why police barely care when a newspaper photographer drowns in a canal. His search for answers uncovers the darker side of the place he has landed.

Bloodline

by Gerry Boyle

1995

Reporting on teen parents in rural Maine, Jack McMorrow gets close to a young mother whose life is already fragile. When she turns up dead, he uncovers a murder case tied to a baby.

Lifeline

by Gerry Boyle

1996

When a battered woman asks a judge for protection and is ignored, Jack sees a story worth chasing. The case pulls him into a tangle of jealousy, violence, and murder in central Maine.

Potshot

by Gerry Boyle

1997

A piece on marijuana activists draws Jack into the Maine woods and a struggle over money, power, and hidden motives. What starts as a political story turns into a deadly investigation.

Borderline

by Gerry Boyle

1998

While researching Benedict Arnold's march to Quebec, Jack lingers in a remote Maine town after a man vanishes from a tour bus. His questions anger locals determined to keep their secrets buried.

Cover Story

by Gerry Boyle

2000

Back in New York to help a friend, Jack McMorrow is caught in the fallout when the mayor is murdered. Suddenly a suspect himself, he must navigate old loyalties and a city full of traps.

Pretty Dead

by Gerry Boyle

2003

Jack and Roxanne investigate suspected abuse inside a powerful Boston family, then a woman's death blows the case open. Wealth, image, and Jack's own ambition cloud every step toward the truth.

Home Body

by Gerry Boyle

2004

A runaway teenager breaks into Jack McMorrow's house looking for safety, then disappears again. Chasing the boy's trail, Jack is pulled into a street world of lies, desperation, and sudden violence.

Port City Shakedown

by Gerry Boyle

2009

Raised rough on the Portland waterfront, Brandon Blake thinks the police force might finally give him rules to live by. Instead, a fresh start turns into a fight with a dangerous ex-con and a past that will not stay buried.

Damaged Goods

by Gerry Boyle

2010

Jack and Roxanne settle in a midcoast town only to become targets after she removes two abused boys from a dangerous father. Jack's pursuit of a story about a troubled young escort pushes the whole family closer to disaster.

Port City Black and White

by Gerry Boyle

2011

Rookie Portland cop Brandon Blake takes on the disappearance of a baby snatched from a chaotic apartment. Following the trail with his veteran partner Kat, he finds a case that could wreck both his career and his life.

Once Burned

by Gerry Boyle

2015

A string of fires throws Jack into a frightened Maine town where old lies keep feeding the flames. At the same time, a custody tragedy turns his wife Roxanne and daughter Sophie into targets.

Straw Man

by Gerry Boyle

2016

Staying close to home in rural Maine, Jack McMorrow stumbles into illegal gun sales, cyberbullying, and a closed religious community under pressure. As the danger grows, so do the strains on his marriage to Roxanne.

Random Act

by Gerry Boyle

2019

After witnessing a brutal daylight killing in a big-box store, Jack refuses to believe it was meaningless. His search links the victim, a homeless attacker, and a web of hidden plans across coastal and inland Maine.

Port City Rat Trap

by Gerry Boyle

2021

Back on duty in Portland, Officer Brandon Blake finds a bank teller dead in the harbor near his boat. The case looks accidental, but his digging stirs up trouble inside the department and with New York mob figures.

Robbed Blind

by Gerry Boyle

2022

A serial robber in a zombie mask terrorizes a Maine mill city just as Jack begins to wonder what his work still means. Chasing the story draws him into a darker nighttime world of crooked cops, addicts, and old loyalties.

Hard Line

by Gerry Boyle

2024

Wounded and running out of easy answers, Jack McMorrow faces a lethal biker gang and a brutal domestic case tied to people he cares about. This final novel pushes him and his friends toward a hard reckoning.

New

The Ossuary

by Gerry Boyle

2026

A stolen burial box hidden beneath a medieval cathedral may contain bones that could shake Christianity to its core. As rival factions race to control the secret, the hunt turns deadly.

Where to start with Gerry Boyle

If you want the full Jack McMorrow arc: DeadlineBloodlineLifelinePotshot
If you want later Jack at his darkest: Damaged GoodsOnce BurnedStraw ManRandom Act
If you prefer a Portland police story: Port City ShakedownPort City Black and WhitePort City Rat Trap
If you want the final McMorrow run: Robbed BlindHard Line

Gerry Boyle sub-series and character series

Brandon Blake Mystery books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Port City Shakedown"

    Port City Shakedown

    by Gerry Boyle

    2009Brandon Blake Mystery, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Port City Black and White"

    Port City Black and White

    by Gerry Boyle

    2011Brandon Blake Mystery, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Port City Rat Trap"

    Port City Rat Trap

    by Gerry Boyle

    2021Brandon Blake Mystery, Book 3

Brandon Blake Mystery books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Port City Shakedown"

    Port City Shakedown

    by Gerry Boyle

    2009Brandon Blake Mystery, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Port City Black and White"

    Port City Black and White

    by Gerry Boyle

    2011Brandon Blake Mystery, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Port City Rat Trap"

    Port City Rat Trap

    by Gerry Boyle

    2021Brandon Blake Mystery, Book 3

Jack McMorrow books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Deadline"

    Deadline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1993Jack McMorrow, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Bloodline"

    Bloodline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1995Jack McMorrow, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Lifeline"

    Lifeline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1996Jack McMorrow, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Potshot"

    Potshot

    by Gerry Boyle

    1997Jack McMorrow, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Borderline"

    Borderline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1998Jack McMorrow, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Cover Story"

    Cover Story

    by Gerry Boyle

    2000Jack McMorrow, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Pretty Dead"

    Pretty Dead

    by Gerry Boyle

    2003Jack McMorrow, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Home Body"

    Home Body

    by Gerry Boyle

    2004Jack McMorrow, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Damaged Goods"

    Damaged Goods

    by Gerry Boyle

    2010Jack McMorrow, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Once Burned"

    Once Burned

    by Gerry Boyle

    2015Jack McMorrow, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Straw Man"

    Straw Man

    by Gerry Boyle

    2016Jack McMorrow, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Random Act"

    Random Act

    by Gerry Boyle

    2019Jack McMorrow, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "Robbed Blind"

    Robbed Blind

    by Gerry Boyle

    2022Jack McMorrow, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "Hard Line"

    Hard Line

    by Gerry Boyle

    2024Jack McMorrow, Book 14

Jack McMorrow books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Deadline"

    Deadline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1993Jack McMorrow, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Bloodline"

    Bloodline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1995Jack McMorrow, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Lifeline"

    Lifeline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1996Jack McMorrow, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Potshot"

    Potshot

    by Gerry Boyle

    1997Jack McMorrow, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Borderline"

    Borderline

    by Gerry Boyle

    1998Jack McMorrow, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Cover Story"

    Cover Story

    by Gerry Boyle

    2000Jack McMorrow, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Pretty Dead"

    Pretty Dead

    by Gerry Boyle

    2003Jack McMorrow, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Home Body"

    Home Body

    by Gerry Boyle

    2004Jack McMorrow, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Damaged Goods"

    Damaged Goods

    by Gerry Boyle

    2010Jack McMorrow, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Once Burned"

    Once Burned

    by Gerry Boyle

    2015Jack McMorrow, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Straw Man"

    Straw Man

    by Gerry Boyle

    2016Jack McMorrow, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Random Act"

    Random Act

    by Gerry Boyle

    2019Jack McMorrow, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "Robbed Blind"

    Robbed Blind

    by Gerry Boyle

    2022Jack McMorrow, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "Hard Line"

    Hard Line

    by Gerry Boyle

    2024Jack McMorrow, Book 14

Standalone Gerry Boyle books

  1. Book cover for "The Ossuary"

    The Ossuary

    by Gerry Boyle

    2026

Author bio

Gerry Boyle was born in Chicago in 1956, grew up in Rhode Island, and eventually made Maine the lasting home of his fiction. He graduated from Colby College in 1978, and the state stayed with him. Its mill towns, country roads, working harbors, and uneasy small communities became the ground beneath his books.

After college he knocked around a bit. He worked as a roofer, a postman, and a manuscript reader in New York City. That last job turned into a turning point. Spending his days reading other people's submissions helped him realize he did not want to spend his life evaluating manuscripts. He wanted to write one.

He headed back to Maine in 1979 and found newspaper work, first at the Rumford Falls Times and later at the Morning Sentinel in Waterville. Those years gave him more than a paycheck. They gave him an ear for speech, an eye for telling detail, and a close view of the way power, money, fear, and plain stubbornness play out in everyday lives. They also gave him the seed of his first novel.

That novel was Deadline, published in 1993.

Deadline introduced Jack McMorrow, the reporter who would carry Boyle through decades of crime fiction. Jack is sharp, battered, morally restless, and incapable of leaving a bad story alone. Across books like Bloodline, Pretty Dead, Once Burned, Random Act, and Hard Line, Boyle keeps dropping him into murders, family trouble, and towns full of history people would rather not discuss. Readers come for the suspense, but they often stay for Jack's mix of stubborn decency, dark humor, and willingness to keep going when going is clearly a bad idea.

One reason the series holds together so well is that Jack's private life changes too. Roxanne Masterson, a social worker, becomes central to the books, and later their daughter Sophie raises the emotional stakes even further. In Boyle's best later novels, the danger is never just professional. Jack's work keeps colliding with marriage, home, and the question of what loyalty is supposed to cost.

He writes Maine without polishing it for tourists.

Boyle did not stay with one lead forever. In the Brandon Blake books, beginning with Port City Shakedown, he shifts to a younger Portland cop, a loner trying to find a place inside institutions he does not fully trust. That series lets Boyle explore similar concerns from a different angle. Whether he is writing about Blake or McMorrow, he returns to hidden histories, people on the margins, the fallout of violence, and the moral mess that starts when official systems fail. His journalism background keeps all of it grounded. The plots move quickly, but the people in them feel lived in.

Over the years, Boyle's work has earned steady recognition. Straw Man and Random Act won Maine Literary Awards for crime fiction, and Hard Line picked up a bronze medal at the 2025 Independent Publisher Book Awards. He also stayed connected to his alma mater, serving as editor of Colby's alumni magazine. He lives in China Village, Maine, with his wife, Mary Foley Boyle, and he has kept writing about the rougher, quieter, more complicated corners of the state he knows best.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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