Book Review: Squeeze Play

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Squeeze Play     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
R. J. Kaiser
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Romance   Romantic Suspense
Mira, Sep 2002, $23.95, 460 pp.

Former San Francisco cop Nick Sasso is in self-exile across the continent after apparently screwing up an investigation. Nick opened up a Manhattan restaurant that has just taken off. Currently he is watching a Yankee-Red Sox game at the Stadium when his girlfriend Bree Davis calls the restaurant to see how things are going after a tremendous review in the paper. Though the restaurant is doing great, Nick learns he got a call from his estranged father’s accountant that something is wrong with the books of the family business now run by brother Joe, who rumors fly is near bankruptcy.

Nick returns to the Bay only to find Joe murdered. Though he knows he should allow the police led by his ex-partner to investigate, Nick refuses to sit on the sidelines. He makes inquiries that upset a lot more people than just the SFPD as he begins to uncover something more sinister and conspiratorial than just some falling out over debts.

SQUEEZE PLAY is a great suspense thriller that works on several levels due a strong cast. Nick is the focus of the tale with his ill-accepted investigation, but the secondary characters turn the action-packed plot into a game-winning walk off home run as they provide depth to the story line and the lead protagonist. However, the support crew are not just benchwarmers as they seem so real; they are the fielders that enable R.J. Kaiser to pitch a near perfect game that rivals that of Don Larson.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner