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THE PAPERBOY
by Pete Dexter
Delta, January 1996
336 pages
$19.00
ISBN: 0385315724


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

THE PAPERBOY begins and ends with the silence surrounding family secrets, in this case, those of the James family of Moat County, Florida. Its patriarch 'World War' James, owner of the Moat County Tribune, and two sons – Ward, a hotshot reporter for the Miami Times, and Jack, a University of Florida dropout and delivery truck driver for the Tribune – and their family secrets lie at the center of this murder mystery.

Everything comes undone as Ward James and his partner Yardley Acheman seek to investigate the murder of Moat County Sheriff Thurmond Call, an unpopular local lawman who is found murdered (gutted like an alligator) along a rural highway. Local swamp rat Hillary Van Wetter is tried, convicted, and sentenced to fry when Charlotte Bless arrives at the reporters’ new office. Armed with boxes of evidence to prove her beloved (and, as yet, unmet) fiancé was railroaded by Southern justice, Bless uses her feminine wiles to get exactly what she wants.

As James and Acheman rush to file the big story, letting some details remain unresolved, the result is that secrets begin unraveling. When the reporters are heralded for their scoop and Van Wetter is released, there’s as much lingering doubt as at the beginning of the investigation, and perhaps more damage done.

The heart of this novel is a focus on the truth, its complications and family cover-ups, the telling of a story at its expense, the question of whether truth and justice can successfully coexist in the face of incomplete evidence and inefficient representation. Mostly, Dexter has told a story about the lies that hold a family together and cause it to fall apart. The ending isn’t neat, and some will find it unsatisfying given the weight of the family crisis. Overall, however, Dexter has given his readers some bigger issues to contemplate while telling a fascinating story.

Reviewed by Christine Zibas, July 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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