The Mark

THE MARK - Jason Pinter

Henry Parker Series - Book 1
A Perfect 10
MIRA
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2489-8
ISBN-10: 0-7783-2489-3
July 2007
Suspense/Thriller

New York City, New York - Present Day

New York City. Tiny apartments, high rents. Thousands of people per square mile. Yet, this busy metropolis generates a headline story in every crack, crevice, and corner. And in a city where crime is often hidden under the cloak of darkness, Henry Parker is a crusader determined to separate the good from the bad. After finally graduating from the prestigious Cornell University with his coveted degree in journalism still hot in his hands, Henry is snapped up and hired by the New York City Gazette. And when he learns he’s working elbow to elbow with his hero, Ace investigative reporter Jack O’Donnell, Henry is walking on air! And his long awaited first assignment? Writing obituaries. There must be some mistake; Henry Parker is an Investigative Journalist! He didn’t struggle through college and stay at the top of his class just to write blurbs about dead people. But, as the new kid on the block, Henry swallows his pride and tells himself that even the great Jack O’Donnell must have started this way.

Henry barely earns enough to pay his rent on an apartment right in the middle of downtown Manhattan, but he manages. He has long dreamed of being right where he is at this moment in his life. He’s an up and coming Ace reporter, and writing in New York City means living right smack in the middle, and so what if he has to subsist on crackers and water? He’s doing what he has to do. Week after week, obituary after obituary -- and Henry finally gets his break. Jack O’Donnell, buried in work on an expose he’s writing about New York City mobsters, sends Henry deep into the jungle that is Harlem to interview ex-convict Luis Guzman. And Henry gets his story, but in the middle of trying to help the Guzman's fend off an attacker, he gets caught up in a dark and deadly take-down. And when the dust settles, it’s Henry who’s left holding the blame. Now Henry is on the run. The F.B.I. and every cop in New York City are out to get him for the murder of one of their own, an N.Y.P.D. officer. And it won’t matter who finds him first; either way, Henry Parker is a dead man.

In THE MARK, Henry travels through most of the pages running for his life. Trying to do a good deed, striving to get his big break in Investigative Journalism, Henry finds himself in a situation that explodes around him and spirals out of control. Suddenly, he’s on the move, with an entire city of people looking inside every corner to flush him out. Henry has no friends he can trust -- nowhere he can go.

THE MARK is an exceptional book, but it’s difficult to write an in-depth critique about this fast paced thriller without giving away too much of the plot. What I can tell you about are the characters, each of whom is bigger than life, jumping right off the pages and into your heart -- even the villains! Henry is the good guy caught in a bad situation, but he’s determined not to be the dead man at the end of the day. His girlfriend, law student Mya Loverne, isn’t much help, but she does save Henry’s life for another day -- of which he hasn’t many left. Not if the FBI and the N.Y.P.D. have any say in it -- not to mention assorted mobsters and a hit man. Henry has lived his whole life with one goal in mind, using his written words to flush out the bad guys and overcome evil. But instead, the tables have turned and the evil is about to smother him. The only things Henry has on his side are his intelligence and a prayer or two.

Most of the supporting characters in Henry’s story are searching for him, with the exception of one new friend, Amanda Davies. F.B.I. agent, Joe Mauser becomes obsessed with making Henry pay for the death of his brother-in-law. But Joe is the least of Henry’s troubles. Kill a cop and your life isn’t worth a cent. But steal from a mobster, and your days are definitely numbered. Mobster Michael DiForio sends an assassin named The Ringer after Henry to recover a mysterious package he believes Henry took. Henry knows nothing about DiForio’s package, nor did he kill the cop -- but will he live to tell his side of the story?

THE MARK is one of the best thrillers I have read all year, and Jason Pinter is definitely a breakout author to watch. Another Henry Parker mystery is on the way in January 2008, and entitled THE REGULATOR. I hope this is the beginning of many more books for Henry; he is one of the best heroes to come in along in years, and I am pleased to present THE MARK with RRT’s Perfect 10 award. This is an extraordinary novel, and Jason Pinter has cornered the market on the next great mystery series! But one question remains -- will Henry Parker live to see another day, let alone the end of this story?

Diana Risso