Step to the Graveyard Easy

June 10, 2002
This slim novel from a veteran of noir thrillers, including the Nameless Detective series, is as slick and plot driven as they come. Matt Cape is 35 and stuck in a rut: when his wife catches him in bed with another woman, he quits his job and takes to the road, leaving his old life (or lack thereof) behind. He heads south, then west, eventually landing in San Francisco, where he is fleeced in a card game by Boone Judson and his sidekick, Tanya. Cape gets his and the other players' money back, along with some mysterious photographs. He returns the money to its owners and follows the cardsharps to Lake Tahoe, where he also tracks down the people in the photos and warns them that they may be in danger. When a high-stakes poker game ends in carnage, Cape is sure that Boone and Tanya were involved, but now there's someone else in the picture, someone even more dangerous than the grifters. The police think Cape knows more than he lets on, making his search for the murderer that much more urgent. Pronzini (Nothing but the Night; Blue Lonesome) efficiently pulls readers into Cape's world, but other characters get little fine shading. The author compensates with lean, tart dialogue and snappy pacing as Cape doggedly tries to right the world's wrongs, like a jaded Robin Hood. Though he's an ordinary man caught up in events beyond his control, he is also fearless before death and, through him, readers can act out the pulp fantasy of a good guy beating the odds.

April 1, 2002
Pronzini, author of the "Nameless Detective" series, grabs readers on the first page of this work and hurtles them through a series of twists and turns, culminating in a surprise ending. A quiet salesman, Matthew Cape leads a dull, predictable life, but his midlife crisis prompts radical change: he leaves his wife, quits his job, and severs all ties to his past. Out to create a violently new life for himself, he buys a Corvette, tries skydiving, and takes to the road cross-country. While gambling in San Francisco, he meets up with Boone and Tanya Judson, who start him on a trail that leads to deceit and murder. Drawing on skills he didn't know he had, he evades both police and criminals, until he finally finds the redemption he seeks. Using sharp, staccato sentences, Pronzini accomplishes more in 180 pages than many authors do in two or three times the space. The suspense is pitched so high that one finds oneself turning the pages faster and faster. Highly recommended for all libraries. Fred Gervat, Concordia Coll., Bronxville, NY

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2002
Matthew Cape has had enough. When his wife catches him in bed with a waitress and demands a divorce, he readily agrees. He quits his job and leaves Rockford, Illinois, in the rearview mirror of his recently purchased, cherry-red Corvette. Eventually he lands in San Francisco, where he gets tangled up with a pair of con artists, Boone and Tanya Judson, who lure conventioneers and lonely businessmen into crooked poker games. Cape spots the scam, confronts the armed couple, and gets his money back as well as the cash lost by his fellow victims. In the satchel of conned cash, he finds evidence that the couple plan to blackmail a wealthy Lake Tahoe couple. He decides to warn the intended victims and in the process gets involved in an increasingly deadly mix of blackmail, cons, and double crosses. Pronzini likes to take the occasional break from his Nameless series to write stand-alone thrillers. This is one of the better ones: compelling modern noir with a thought-provoking conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)