Traveler

October 9, 2006
Struggling actor Jono Riley, the narrator of McLarty's second novel (after The Memory of Running
), is getting older—he's been tending bar for nearly 30 years—but his roles aren't getting any better. After he receives a letter from his childhood friend, Cubby, informing him that Cubby's sister, Marie, (the first girl Jono loved) has died, Jono takes temporary leave of the bar where he works and Renée Levesque, his girlfriend and an 18-year veteran of the New York City fire department. He goes home to East Providence, R.I., where he learns the cause of Marie's death: a bullet that was lodged in her shoulder after a freak, unsolved shooting during her childhood "traveled" and pinched an artery. Jono, with the help of retired cop Kenny Snowden, who was a young police officer when Marie was shot and has never forgotten the case, begins looking into the long-ago shooting. Friends and enemies from Jono's childhood still linger around East Providence, and the petty rivalries and deep bonds of the past take on new significance as the investigation grows in scope and points to an unlikely suspect. Frequent flashbacks add color to Jono's adult insecurities, and McLarty's prose remains convincing without crossing into treacly turf.

June 1, 2007
Adult/High School -Jono Riley, a bartender and sometime actor, looks back on a series of childhood events that have mystified him over the years. As a means of self-preservation, he has scrupulously avoided introspection most of his adult life. However, he has just received a letter from a close childhood friend, Cubby D'Agostino, letting him know that Cubby's sister, Marie, has passed away unexpectedly. Forty years earlier, 12-year-old Marie was 11-year-old Jono's first love. She was also the central figure of a mystery that has subliminally haunted him ever since. Now, Cubby's letter triggers memories that Jono can no longer ignore. As the story marches toward its inevitable conclusion, readers begin to see why Jono has buried many of his childhood recollections. McLarty skillfully uses alternating chapters to flash back and then propel the story forward as he builds suspense and gradually unravels the mystery that Jono wants very much to forget. The protagonist is a very human character who must deal with issues of loyalty, friendship, and ambiguity.Catherine Gilbride, Farifax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2006
Actor and playwright McLarty, whose debut, " The Memory of Running" (2005), caused a stir, returns with a crisply written novel that is partly a mystery and partly a nostalgic look back at childhood. When Jono Riley, an aging NYC actor and bartender, receives word that his first love, Marie D'Agostino, has died, he immediately returns to his hometown of East Providence, Rhode Island. Marie died when a bullet, lodged in her back some 40 years ago, traveled, causing her heart to stop. Jono was present on the winter day in 1961 when the shooting occurred, but the shock of Marie's death has caused him to remember the event in more detail. He seeks the aid of a retired cop who is still bothered that he never solved the case. McLarty gives us a real sense of place here, evoking both East Providence's past as an immigrant enclave for dockworkers and its newly gentrified present. Jono's bighearted firefighter girlfriend and the many colorful figures from the old neighborhood serve to further enrich this atmospheric tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)