Synopses & Reviews
Ozzie believes hes planned the perfect crime. Wealthy stock promoter Harold Wismer is having an affair with a woman named Melanie Martel. Ozzie and his buddy Dean will kidnap Harold as he leaves Melanies apartment, and then demand a five-million-dollar ransom from Harolds loving wife, Joan. Harold is famous locally for his loud mouth, endless cigars, and banana-yellow suits. He can easily afford five million. The original Trampoline Man, hes suffered numerous multi-million-dollar losses playing the market, and always bounced back.
This is Ozzies second attempt at snatching a wealthy promoter. His first time out was a disaster - especially for his victim. Ozzie views the first kidnapping as a high-intensity learning experience. Hes a quick study. This time hell get it right. Or so he thinks.
Unfortunately Ozzie is unaware that ancient-but-still-sharp-toothed mobster Jake Cappalletti also has a lively pecuniary interest in Harold. Ozzies young and quick. But Jake is old, and methodical.
Vancouver police detectives Jack Willows and Claire Parker are assigned the task of investigating Harolds sudden and violent disappearance. Willows balks. His son, Sean, has been critically wounded in a convenience-store holdup, and Willows, distraught, doesnt want to abandon that case. But he is soon convinced that the two crimes are related, and the furiously paced hunt is on.
Synopsis
The violent disappearance of a wealthy stock promoter and the wounding of Willows' son in a holdup seem to be related.
About the Author
Laurence Gough, who lives with his wife and two children in Vancouver, has written twelve Willows and Parker mysteries: The Goldfish Bowl, winner of an Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel from the Crime Writers of Canada; Death on a No. 8 Hook; Hot Shots, winner of an Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year; Serious Crimes; Accidental Deaths; Fall Down Easy; Killers; Heartbreaker; Memory Lane; Karaoke Rap; Shutterbug; and Funny Money. His international thriller, Sandstorm, won the Author Award (fiction) from the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters in 1991.