New Fictional Thriller Set In Geraldton
Cover of Geraldton Back Doors by Edgar J. Lavoie
Kennet Forbes back in Greenstone
“I couldn’t put it down!” That’s what every writer of a thriller wants to hear and it’s what many Greenstone residents are saying who have read the latest Kennet Forbes mystery by local author, Edgar J. Lavoie.
July 18th, WhiskyJack Publishing officially announced the publication of Geraldton Back Doors as a trade paperback, it is currently available in the Greenstone and Thunder Bay areas.
“It is definitely a page turner,” said Maria Smith, librarian at Greenstone Public Library. Smith was one of first readers tasked with checking a proof copy of the novel.
“I am no longer just a writer of history books and news features,” said author E.J. Lavoie. “I guess I can call myself a novelist.” Lavoie, a retired teacher in Greenstone, now writes full-time. His published works include And the Geraldton Way and March of Times Star and, his debut novel, The Beardmore Relics.
Geraldton Back Doors begins when a body turns up in the wilderness north of Lake Superior, and Kennet Forbes takes it personally. Forbes, a former high-profile investigative journalist, finds himself wading through murder, violence, and drugs. The pursuit of justice dredges up his personal history, and threatens to mire him in doubts about mankind’s capacity for goodness.
Author Eddgar Lavoie negotiating whitewater on the Kapikotongwa River in August 2012 Submitted photo
In Geraldton Back Doors, Forbes renews acquaintance with the quiet community where he grew up, and the wild country that used to be his playground. Now a teacher at Thunder Bay University, he stumbles across a dead drug mule in the middle of the bush, and that in turn leads him to criminal operations which are vast and mind-boggling in scope. Figures from his overseas experience as war correspondent return to haunt him. The little town that nurtured him is now wrestling with a dragon.
Lavoie says critics have been kind to his first novel, The Beardmore Relics. Typical is a comment from a Goodreads reviewer: “This is a very solid whodunit and a great read. The Beardmore Relics contains a fascinating cast of characters that delight and infuriate. Mr. Lavoie has written the best book on life in one of the declining communities found north of Barrie on Highway 11 . . .” (Czarny Pies)
Local entrepreneur and artist Karen MacDougall has been reading Geraldton Back Doors in spite of her busy summer schedule, “I am really enjoying it!”
Another reader said, “It was a great read! It took me three days. Couldn’t put it down!”
Dan Levesque, retired Staff Sergeant and Commander of the Greenstone Detachment of the OPP, also had some input into the novel. Lavoie consulted him about police work in this area, and Levesque said that he couldn’t fault the OPP actions in the novel.
In Geraldton Back Doors, Forbes works with the Ontario Provincial Police, who can do things and go places he can’t, and who encourage his private sleuthing even as they officially discourage it.
Ken Stevens, retired Director of North Shore and Greenstone campuses of Confederation College, commented that the novel has “an engaging plot that provides the reader with an insightful glimpse into life in small town Ontario.”
In Geraldton, the book is available at Marino’s, Stedman’s, and the Interpretive Centre. In Thunder Bay, copies are available for purchase at the Baggage Building Arts Centre and several book outlets in the city including Chapters and Coles.
Readers can follow the author on Twitter @WhiskyJackPub, on Facebook (Edgar J Lavoie – Author), or the website WhiskyJackPublishing.ca.
An historical mystery also impinges the present, with the killer becoming a kind of local hero.
