An artfully told police procedural set in an explosive era in recent history

Montreal 1970. The "Vampire Killer" has murdered three women and a fourth is missing. Bombs explode in the stock exchange, McGill University, and houses in Westmount. Riots break out at the St. Jean Baptiste parade and at Sir George Williams University. James Cross and Pierre Laporte are kidnapped and the Canadian army moves onto the streets of Montreal.

A young beat cop working out of Station Ten finds himself almost alone hunting the serial killer, as the rest of the force focuses on the FLQ crisis. Constable Eddie Dougherty, the son of a French mother and an Irish-Canadian father, decides to take matters into his own hands to catch the killer before he strikes again.

Set against actual historical events, Black Rock is both a compelling page-turner and an accomplished novel in the style of Dennis Lehane.

John McFetridge co-authored Below the Line with Scott Albert, who, like John, had spent many years working in the film industry. John is also the author of the Toronto Series crime fiction novels Dirty Sweet, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, and Swap. He has written the screenplays The Shrew in the Park and The Protector, the CBC radio drama, Champions, as well as episodes for the CBS/CTV television series The Bridge. John lives in Toronto.

John McFetridge's profile page

"Canadian author/screenwriter McFetridge has earned critical praise for Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (2008) and other previous works, but is still looking for a 'breakout book.' With its well-etched family drama and dynamic historical background, Black Rock might finally be the one." — Kirkus Reviews

"This is an extremely good crime novel, brimming with historical verisimilitude…with a richly detailed protagonist and a seriously compelling mystery." — Booklist

"[An] excellent historical procedure…Well done history and a really good plot line." — Globe and Mail

"[McFetridge]'s prose remains stripped back and forceful, the action propelled by laconic dialogue and the likeable Eddie Doughtery’s refusal to allow politics to interfere with his personal pursuit of justice…It’s a fascinating backdrop, too." — The Irish Times

"Spellbinding franglais dialogue and a superb police procedural are set against the backdrop of a seminal period in Canadian history." — Winnipeg Free Press