Legendary crime reporter Peter Smith finally put his head down and fingers to the keyboard to write his first fictional crime novel, Hitting Deadline. In full disclosure mode, Petey and I worked several years together on the crime beat at the Calgary Sun. I admire the hell outta his skills and learned much from the man during my time in Cowtown. However, I will attempt to write this review in a clinically fair and unbiased manner..Less than a god, but more than a man, Peter Smith ruled the crime beat in Calgary for decades before retiring to a life of fishing and relaxation on a tiny island off BC’s West coast..It was apparently between casts when he wrote Hitting Deadline — a gossamer-veiled, autobiographical look at his nearly 40 years as a reporter in England and Canada..Many of the crime stories in the book will be familiar to Albertans — and indeed the rest of the country — as the book’s hero, crime reporter Ben Ludlow, recalls lightly-fictionalized, based-on-true-facts stories past, and attempts to cobble the "story of a lifetime" about a complex, devious serial killer and his victims.. Hitting deadlineHitting deadline .Smith’s narrative throughout harkens back to a time when, certainly in Calgary, the news game was viciously competitive; cutthroat to the point we didn’t want to just beat other reporters — we wanted to crush their souls and force them to rethink their career choices..Smith was a master at the game and would often see his front page story create a flurry of activity from competing reporters trying to catch up, only to see Smith advance the story with yet another exclusive the next day. (One that leaps to mind is the sad story of a young, foreign student mother who killed her infant child. As everyone else dutifully reported on that tragedy, Smith discovered the woman had another child who was also sadly dead and callously discarded. While other media tried to catch up on that new tragedy, Pete came into possession of the mother’s diary that detailed her party lifestyle that contributed to both deaths — yet another scoop, sad as it was.).One of the big reasons for that success and others, was Smith’s — and counterpart Ludlow’s — ability to develop quality sources, such as those in the police service and the medical examiner’s office..Culled from Smith's personal files — which police would often ask to see to confirm their own stats — Hitting Deadline is a unique view into the investigative procedure of crime reporting, specifically into Smith’s own process..Like his fictional counterpart, Smith was a bit of a loner. Sure, he liked most people and that was reciprocated, but I don’t know Smith formed any close personal relationships at the Sun. Work was work, and off-time was his own, usually spent on the Bow fly-fishing for tricky trout and wily whitefish, or tending to the philatelic business he ran with his wife..Throughout Hitting Deadline, Smith weaves a tale about a serial killer who so brilliantly framed others for his murderous deeds it’s not unreasonable to believe he’d never be caught..Smith uses real crime solving techniques in the story. He also gives Ludlow a couple of key phrases, “Right on!” and, well, another that simply cannot be printed in a family publication. However, both are straight from Smith’s lips, intoned in his coastal Hampshire accent hundreds of times in the Sun newsroom..This would seem a good time to issue a caution about Smith’s book: it’s often vulgar, it’s a true life look at the seemingly endless violence and heart-breaking scenarios people who write about crime must endure..Smith shares it all in undressed, often viciously violent, form..Fans of crime fiction, crime drama and, hell, even of Smiffy himself, will love this book..Hitting Deadline is available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon or from the New York publisher at austinmacauley.com/us/author/smith-peter.
