Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Samaritan-Stephen Besecker

The Samaritan
Stephen Besecker
Bancroft, Jul 14 2011, $25.00
ISBN: 9781610880091

When half Seneca Kevin "Hatch" Easter was nine years old, his parents died. He moved into the home of his shaman grandfather on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. Hatch never felt at home until as an adult he met and married Karen. Hatch took a position with the Central Intelligence Agency and became a highly regarded Tracker

He died figuratively when his wife and her sister Patricia Durante were murdered in a mob collection hit at Rudy’s Tavern in the Bronx. Boss Tony D knows the stupidity of murdering two innocent sisters and a paying customer over 15 K, but worse his nephew collector Cercone left fingerprints on the throat of Easter. To satisfy the media and NYPD, he assigns Cercone to kill his triggerman Taliaferro to close the case. However, someone refuses to accept case closed. That individual like a ghost hunts down anyone remotely associated with the murders in the Bronx as this stalker feels an infinite degree of connection for those who must die. The police detectives Montroy and Philips worry about being killed; New York Post reporter Butera gleefully sees homicide as his path to superstardom; while the CIA fears one of their own has gone vigilante.

This is a terrific New York thriller that grips the audience from the moment the mob enters the tavern and never slows down as the corpses including collateral damage pile around the city. Although at times the action seems implausible, the suspenseful story line is fast-paced with a nod to the movie Die Hard, but also contains strong twists. Readers will appreciate this entertaining murderers’ row.

Harriet Klausner

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