From Publishers Weekly
At New York's Sundown prison, two cell mates, convicted political activist Gail Rubin and former Bolton, Tex., police officer Diane Wellman, discover a mutual interest in absolution and escape. In this nimbly written nail-biter, Wozencraft (
Rush) explores the boundaries separating—and the bonds uniting—those who break the law and those who enforce it. Gail has spent 18 years in the can for being a member of Free Now, a fringe group whose Philadelphia bank robbery resulted in several deaths. After her request for parole is denied, 44-year-old Gail faces 12 more years behind bars. Diane, a 24-year-old police officer, was framed for drug possession after objecting to the bogus murder conviction of a local drug addict, now sitting on death row. A former undercover narcotics officer, Wozencraft is known for her gritty characters and razor-sharp prose. She's a champ at suspense, too: tensions run high after a daring jailbreak, as fleet-footed fugitives Gail and Diane test the boundaries of trust. With the help of folks from Gail's revolutionary days, the pair manages to remain one step ahead of the law. While Gail sets her mind to the straight-and-narrow, Diane is determined to settle old scores in Texas. The loose ends of Wozencraft's plot may tie up a bit too easily, but her knack for nonstop action will keep readers engaged from the very first page.
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From Booklist
Wozencraft, a former undercover narcotics officer and the author of the highly acclaimed
Rush (1990), writes with nervy brilliance. Her heroine, Diane Wellman, has spent three years on patrol in Bolton, Texas. Her status as a young, female cop makes her exquisitely tuned in to the frequencies of real police procedure but unprepared for the reality of a boss deciding to crucify her for investigating a wrongful imprisonment. Wellman's career upends itself the night she stumbles over the bodies of three dead teenagers. Wozencraft's description of the contamination of the crime scene and Wellman's subsequent humiliation could only come from one who has firsthand knowledge of how police politics can trump procedure. Wellman's story intersects with a wrongly imprisoned woman. The novel switches from procedural to prison story to escape novel, losing some probability but without losing momentum. A chiller.
Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
