Drift: A Thriller: 1 (Doyle Carrick, 1)

I'd read a couple of short stories by Jon McGoran before venturing into the Doyle Carrick series. I 'met' Jon through social networking quite some time before I realized he was an author but knew he was very much interested in the sustainability of our world and had worries about GMO crops. When I discovered he wrote books about this I decided to give him a go because I like to think I'm a bit of an eco warrior with my recycling etc......I realized as I read Drift that in fact I know very little about genetic modification and found this to be quite a scary possibility as we don't really know what is being sprayed in our fields.I liked the way the main character, Doyle, is a detective from Philly who has been suspended from his force for 20 days and due to his parents death in a small Pennsylvania town he decided to spend his suspension sorting out their estate. Little did he know that he would become involved in a major issue but whilst driving around in the small town he recognised some known drug dealers and as he can't stay quiet or do as he's told (part of the reasons for his suspension I suspect) he quickly becomes involved in searching out the culprits!A fast paced book with lots of twists and turns about who is actually involved in the GMO crops. I suspected the boy who worked Doyle's family plot, the boys best friend who makes illegal booze and even the town chief of police because he takes an instant dislike to Doyle.As in all good thriller stories there's a beautiful girl involved who Doyle is majorly attracted to and feels the need to rescue her at every turn!I'm already looking at buying the 2 follow up books in the series and I don't often do that. A great mix of public interest of modern day farming and thrills of a cop story.

This was a story that encompassed not only the problems with genetically altered food, but also crime in many of its manifestations. At first, I was concerned that the societal issues would outweigh the story, but I was so wrong!What I liked:The main character, Doyle Carrick, was a very real personality. He was troubled by the deaths of his parents, and somehow reluctant to examine his feelings about it. In that, he was a lot like most of us. Doyle's internal thoughts were snappy, entertaining, and humorous, and I found myself liking him a lot.The mystery involved kept me turning the pages, and the action made me turn them even faster. I really liked how Doyle didn't think too long before he took action. What was right, was right, so he just went right along and dispensed justice.McGoran didn't let the social issues outweigh the entertainment value. Consequently, I enjoyed the story a lot while becoming more aware of the problems with genetically altered products.What I didn't like:NothingI'm really excited to read more books by Jon McGoran. He's got a golden pen as far as I'm concerned.

Det. Doyle Carrick was doing things the way he was supposed to. He was monitoring the wire for his partner Danny's undercover drug buy, which they both hoped would lead to information about the dealer's supplier. However, when Doyle got a call that his mother was in the hospital and it didn't look good, he had to speed things up a bit, so he preserved Danny's cover by flattening him, then got the information from the dealer at gunpoint. For some reason, the Philly PD frowned upon his more direct method, so a hearing was scheduled. It didn't matter to Doyle anymore, though, because by the time his superior finished reaming him out, his mother had died. While waiting for his hearing, he received word that his stepfather, Frank, had died unexpectedly, too. Given 20 days' suspension without pay and mandatory anger management, he headed to the rural town where Frank and his mother had lived to tie up their estate and enjoy some peace and quiet. But small-town life sure ain't what it used to be, at least in Jon McGoran's novel! Doyle was immediately pulled into helping Nola Watkins, a woman trying to build an organic farm despite harassment from mysterious people who would like to ruin her. Not exactly a good thing for a suspended cop to be involved in, but not something Doyle Carrick was going to walk away from, either.Jon McGoran delivers engaging, just-flawed-enough "good guys," believable "bad guys" with no socially redeeming qualities at all -- there isn't even proof that they were ever good to their mothers -- some well-meaning jerks, at least one jerk who isn't well meaning, and a few ordinary people you'd like to live next door to. He also delivers a whopping whodunit. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I found out I had it wrong! Up until the last time, at least. But that was only about 10 pages before the reveal, so I'm not sure that one counts. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a fast read, and I was educated about organics and GMOs along the way. But don't let the education part scare you; it's done in context and in ways that continue to propel the story forward. And to give you a hint how much I enjoyed it, I've preordered his next book, "Deadout." If you love action-packed mysteries, this one's for you!

DRIFT had been on my ‘to read’ list since it was released and received praise from several of my friends. In another case of “wish I had read it before I met the author” (of which I appear to have a chronic condition), I had the great pleasure of hearing McGoran read at the “Noir at the Bar” panel (a great back and forth between the main character, Doyle Carrick, and his partner) and chatting with him again, later that night.I found DRIFT (an excellent and very appropriate title, by the way…) to be compelling and entertaining on a number of fronts, not the least of which was centering the mystery around GMOs. McGoran successfully instructed me on a foreign subject matter without slowing the pace of the story and/or dumping paragraphs of information. I loved the small town setting and the suspended/powerless cop vs. Sheriff struggle early on, and the transformation of their relationship. Tightly paced, great characters and a fascinating mystery. I’m looking forward to McGoran’s next book, the sequel to DRIFT, entitled, DEADOUT, coming summer 2014.

I didn't know what I was in for when I read the blurb, but this book was recommended to me, so I read it. When I saw 'eco thriller' all over the reviews, I thought it would be preachy and would 'drift' off into telling me what I should or shouldn't eat, and where I should buy my food.What I got was a chase through cornfields by assault rifle-toting drug dealers, narrow escapes from mysterious diseases, hitchcockian crop dusting planes, small-town politics, mutant plants, and a whole lot of angst and blood loss. The protagonist is a dry witted cop from Philadelphia who is trying to cope with the recent death of his parents and a suspension, and he just doesn't seem to be able to stay out of trouble. The book really moves and it was hard to stop reading it. A great mix of action, mystery, science, and Leonard Elmore-y dialog. Oh, and there's a romance and awkward buddy story tying everything together nicely.I'll never look at butterflies the same way again.