• Age: 14 to 17

 

Right away, Dooley knows he's in trouble. For one thing he's got a record. For another, the dead kid isn't exactly a stranger - and he's no friend.

So slowly the net begins to close around 17-year-old Dooley, a troubled lone wolf who has a couple of strikes against him already. Not many are on Dooley's side; in fact at times he even wonders whether his uncle - a retired cop - thinks he's guilty again. There's a big question of trust in their uneasy relationship, and his uncle is the only one standing between Dooley and big time disaster.

The dead kid's sister Beth is someone Dooley would like to have think better of him as well - but she also suspects he's involved in the crime. And all around him are other teenagers at school and in the world he's drawn into who would like to pin him with responsibility for a growing number of murders that swirl through the city.

Norah McClintock, five-time winner of the Arthur Ellis juvenile crime award, has now moved into a different realm with a richly detailed novel aimed at older teens. Gritty, hard-edged, Dooley Takes the Fall is the first in a trilogy of mysteries about a troubled teenager struggling to free himself from the tentacles of his past and the implications of the present conspiracies that surround him.

 

 

Norah McClintock est l’auteure de plus de 40 livres, dont ceux des collections Chloe & Levesque, Mike & Riel et Robyn Hunter Mysteries, tous publiés chez Scholastic Canada. Les livres de Norah ont été traduits dans une douzaine de langues. Elle a remporté le prix Arthur Ellis dans la catégorie du meilleur roman policier jeunesse et beaucoup d’autres récompenses. Native de Montréal, Norah a obtenu un baccalauréat en histoire de l’Université McGill. Une mer de chagrin est son premier roman historique. «Il est temps d’utiliser toutes ces connaissances en histoire», a-t-elle dit. Norah vit maintenant à Toronto.

 

Norah McClintock is the author of Tell and Snitch, both Orca Soundings novels. Norah lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Norah McClintock's profile page

"She (Norah McClintock) is among the authors for young adults who simply write realistic, entertaining, tempting books. . . The book clips along speedily in a plot that's far more interesting than any video game, but its best appeals lie in its recognizable depictions of a high school life that's mainly invisible to adults, and in Dooley himself. . . Young readers - young non-readers - will recognize his voice, and they'll like it."
— The London Free Press

"McClintock, in her usual competent style, adeptly scatters clues throughout the novel to foreshadow the final unveiling. . . With well-paced action, graphic dialogue, intelligent prose, an engaging protagonist, a nice variety of secondary characters, and a compelling story, this page-turner should appeal strongly to fans of the mystery genre.
Highly recommended"
— CM Magazine

"...the author does a good job of characterization especially with Dooley and his stiffnecked uncle, a former cop, who turns out to be more sympathetic than readers might have expected."
— Booklist

"Dooley Takes the Fall is a superbly written, entertaining drama. The plot is well executed, and the characters and their relationships are interesting."
— VOYA

"This is a powerful, often harrowing novel that will appeal to those who appreciate books about people surviving in spite of grave injustices."
— School Library Journal

"McClintock walks the delicate line of making the suspicions reasonable while keeping Dooley's risky actions understandable as well. . . Mystery fans who appreciate a personal touch as much as a plot will enjoy championing this underdog detective."
— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Dooley Takes the Fall is a Canadian YA novel but as with the best that YA fiction has to offer don't let those two letters fool or scare you. This is as tough a crime novel and as good a mystery as you're likely to find anywhere anchored by one of the best characters to come along in years. . . Dooley is a great character that invokes a wide array of feeling from the reader but becomes one that you ultimately root for. . . If John Hughes wrote a crime novel it might look something like this."
— Spinetingler Magazine

Dooley Takes the Fall

Ryan Dooley (he prefers being called Dooley), almost 17, is really trying to get back on the straight and narrow after 18 months in a juvenile detention centre. He’s been doing a pretty good job – no drugs or alcohol, going to school and doing all his homework, holding down a dead-end part-time job in a local video store, going to counselling. All in all, he’s been keeping up with the deal that he’s made with his uncle – a tough ex-cop who has taken Dooley in – that he can make a fresh start. But then he witnesses a kid from his school, Mark Everley, jumping off a bridge to his death and, because of his record, Dooley looks like a pretty good fall guy to the cops who – it turns out – aren’t entirely convinced Mark jumped. And then there’s Mark’s sister, Beth, who’s trying to convince herself – and Dooley – that he must have seen more than he thinks he did. Dooley, who would do anything to make Beth notice him, begins asking questions and everything starts to unravel and Dooley almost does take the fall.

This is an absolutely stunning mystery that is full to the brim of almost unbearable twists and hair-pin turns, all meted out to the reader at a pace that sometimes takes your breath away. In some ways, it will come as no surprise that Dooley Takes the Fall is as good as it is because Norah McClintock is one of Canada’s best mystery and crime fiction writers! Nonetheless, she keeps readers on edge by doling out the facts little bit by little bit, always keeping her readers on edge by keeping a real aura of mystery around Dooley and not letting readers see him in his entirety so that there is always a fear that perhaps Dooley isn’t as innocent a bystander as he claims to be. Maybe Dooley is more involved than he’s letting on, lying to his uncle, the police, and Beth because he’s a more-hardened criminal type than we suspected. It’s extremely rewarding as readers to discover, time and time again, that we’re wrong and that McClintock has lead us up a false trail to keep us on edge. In fact, the mystery of Dooley’s past ends up haunting the readers as much as it does Dooley himself and that’s a remarkable achievement because ultimately readers will discover that Dooley himself is a remarkable character. This is a rich and deeply satisfying story that will grab readers from the very first page and doesn’t let go – even when you close the book!

Dooley Takes the Fall

When Dooley witnesses a body flying off a bridge, he becomes implicated in the subsequent investigation. He knows he’s in trouble: he’s already got a record and he even wonders whether his uncle, a retired cop, thinks he’s more than just a witness. How will Dooley prove his innocence?