Follow the Sun

by Edward J. Delaney

Quinn Boyle is a lobsterman with a shambled boat, a drug problem, and child support he can't pay. Since Quinn lost a man off his boat and served time in prison for cocaine possession, only naïve beginners will work with him. On his final lobster run, Quinn's down to his last options. He hires on an old nemesis, Freddy Santoro, who's facing prison time of his own. Three days later, they're both gone, lost without a trace.

Robbie Boyle, a small-time local sportswriter, looked after his younger brother as best he could. Now that Quinn has disappeared, Robbie reaches out to Quinn's estranged daughter, Christine, and assumes the fatherly role his brother never shouldered. A year later, as they admit they might be better off without Quinn's complicated presence in their lives, Robbie gets a strange tip: Santoro is apparently living in the Pacific Northwest. Telling no one and risking everything, Robbie sets out to find Santoro and determine what happened to Quinn. What he discovers will remap the course of their lives.

Genres: Fiction

280 pages, Paperback

Published June 12, 2018

Reviews

[Richard Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Delaney’s new book Follow the Sun makes for compelling reading. This is a mystery story about a couple of working class brothers, one a lobsterman the other a sportswriter, their offspring, wives and girlfriends. The setting, the gritty underside of a New England coastal fishing village.

The younger brother, Quinn Boyle, left the harbor one day on his small lobster boat and never returned. He has apparently died at sea leaving behind a daughter who very much regrets losing a father she barely knew and a brother with many questions and boat loads of guilt.

There are no romantic literary heros here. These are ordinary folks stuck in a world with few options and many pitfalls, a cast of potential losers, poised at the edge of the abyss and sucked into the complex vortex of contemporary life in the U.S. of A. There is some beautiful writing here! Delaney shows himself to be a master at wrapping small kernels of quotidian truth in beautifully honed, razor sharp metaphor.

What really happened to Quinn Boyle? Follow The Sun is a fast paced, compelling mystery set in the real America. It is a tale written with brutal honesty by a contemporary American master. Highly recommended!

RWW

[Celine Keating · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, heartbreaking, dark. Set in Rhode Island, the novel is centered on two brothers, one a lobsterman, the other a sports reporter, and their fractured family. When the lobsterman goes missing at sea, but no body is found, the delicate balance among the family is thrown off-kilter. I read this with my heart in my mouth. Un-put-downable.

[Jennifer Paloulian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully descriptive and captivating. An engrossing read.

[L.M. Pampuro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Set in a Rhode Island fishing town, Delaney gives a glimpse into how fate can change one's circumstances. Two brothers. Two different paths. How far does family loyalty go?
Fantastic read!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an intense read! I enjoyed the character development and the plot twists and turns.

[Lori Cote Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward J Delaney is a truly gifted writer! I look forward to reading everything this man has written!

[Petesea · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The world is so full of damaged people..." I liked the tale, but it went way too deep into the minds of the damaged Boyle brothers and their families. Would have been better as a short story.