Just Jennifer

Providence Rag by Bruce DeSilva (Tor, March 2014)

What would you do if you knew a man was being held in prison based on crimes allegedly committed while he was behind bars---crimes you know were trumped up to keep a vicious killer in prison.  Not even old enough to have a driver’s license, a teenager slaughtered five of his neighbors and was caught before he murdered more that would have made him a true serial killer.  Because of an antiquated Rhode Island law, this boy, who has grown into a man while in prison, must be released when he turns twenty-one, unless, as it happened, the prisoner commits other crimes while in jail.  Newspaper reporter Mulligan has been covering the story since the beginning, but now his co-worker, and the son of the owner of the paper, Mason, is uncomfortable with the framing of a man---even if the man will surely kill again once he gets out of jail.  More than a well-plotted, fast-paced---though very graphic---mystery, Providence Rag is the story of the collapse of a print newspaper and an ethical dilemma that reaches all the way to the governor.  Well-developed characters populate the book.  A slight slowing down of the pace near the middle makes the plot drag a little, but just as fast it picks up again and races toward an uneasy conclusion.