Jersey Shore Noir: A crime novel set in 1980s Wildwood

Joel E. Turner was a Havertown banking systems and data consultant by day — and a writer whenever possible.

At 70, he’s just published a quirky sand-in-your-shoes crime novel with a romantic heart called Wildwood Exit, set in the Wildwood and Cape May of the 1980s, which he describes as Jersey Shore noir.

Wildwood Exit follows the exploits of John McGinty, who is summoned to Wildwood to run a restaurant owned by his friend Lou Scolletta. What could go wrong?

Turner said his main influence was Pete Dexter, former Philly Daily News columnist and author of classic Philly books like God’s Pocket. Wildwood Exit drills down on the details of the characters coming in hot to the Shore from Philly neighborhoods.

“It’s more about the people than a procedural,” said Turner, who lives in Havertown and now vacations mostly at Lake Michigan — a place of peacefulness, not partying, he notes, and one his Shore friends have trouble imagining. “They ask me, ‘Can you see across to the other side?’” he said. “It’s a big body of water.”

Wildwood Exit begins with McGinty fleeing a one-car crash on the Garden State Parkway to sleep off his alcohol on a nearby golf course.

“I had a friend who had an experience like the one McGinty has that opens the book: a car crash, the title hadn’t been transferred,” Turner said.

But it’s McGinty, otherwise known as “Ginty,” who becomes the source of reason in the book, surrounded by characters who are all trying, with varying success, to ensnare him in their dubious schemes.

It features a so-called “junkie” from Buena (pronounced Byoona), visiting women from Quebec, and rhythms of the kitchens and bars of Jersey Shore restaurants.

“I worked in restaurants at the Shore,” Turner said. “I worked at the Princeton, the Rocking Chair breakfast house. I worked several summers at what was then Gallagher’s Pub, became Jack’s Place, all in Avalon.”

McGinty starts doing the proverbial favors for a guy and quickly is in over his head. Wildwood stands for one thing, Cape May another. And Buena is its own lost cause. Wildwood Exit is a fast-paced enjoyable book with memorable characters trying to dig themselves out of one thing and then another.

Turner’s got an idea for a sequel, also set at the Shore.

“For Ginty, he’s getting away from Philadelphia,” Turner said. “Part of it is, I’m at the Shore, I think I should be having a good time, but I’m sucked into bad business.”

In the book, the Shore represents escape but also a place where your best days might be behind you, even as they’re staring you in the face. “It’s the same way you look at yourself,” Turner said. “It isn’t quite what you thought it would be.”

Turner answered our rapid-fire questions.

Favorite beach/beach town: Ocean City [Editor’s note: plot twist].

Favorite summer breakfast: Sticky buns.

Perfect beach day: Riding the waves.

Perfect night: Dinner at an Italian restaurant, couple bottles of wine.

Worst night at the Shore: Personal best you mean. Getting thrown out of Fred’s, the only bar i’ve been thrown out of, having to walk all the way back to 20th Street in Avalon.

Best Shore sandwich: Hoagie from Sack O’ Subs.

It wouldn’t be the Jersey Shore without: Steamed clams. Does the Clam Bar still exist? [Editor’s note: Smitty’s! Back again for another season, despite repeated threats to close.]

Best thing for kids to do: The boardwalk.

Surfing or fishing? Neither.

Sunrise or sunset? Sunset.

Shore pet peeve? People with the ginormous tents and the wagons. [Editor’s note: It’s known as beachspreading.]

The book launch is 2 p.m. June 8 at Main Point Books in Wayne following a meeting of Liars Club, Turner’s writers’ group, with another book signing scheduled on Monday, June 16, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Wildwood Historical Museum, 3907 Pacific Ave.