Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
As Catch Can
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Vincent Zandri
Class/Genre: Mystery Thriller
Delacorte, Jan 1999, $22.95, 318 pp.
About a year has passed since Jack Marconi's spouse died in a hit and run accident. A despondent Jack has never recovered from the shocker as he depends on alcohol to help him sleep at night. If that were the extent of Jack's problems, life would still go on for the living. Since Jack is the warden at New York's Green Haven Maximum Security Prison, his recent behavior has led to an extremely poor performance.
However, Jack is soon going to find himself with more pressing problems then grief and depression. With insider help, notorious cop killer Eduard Vasquez has escaped from Jack's penitentiary. The brass sets up Jack to take the fall. A revived Jack ignores orders and goes on the lam in an effort to find the escapee and uncover the truth behind the conspiracy that wants to bury him along side his deceased wife.
This reviewer finds it difficult to imagine any 1999 prison- who-done-it novel turning out better than AS CATCH CAN. The story line is non-stop action and the flashback to Attica is eerily brilliant. Jack is a fabulous character whose mourning seems real and his abrupt awakening into a macho man even more genuine. If this debut fiction is any indication of his works, readers will demand a lifetime sentence of novels by Vincent Zandri.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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