From Amazon.com
Penzler Pick, May 2000: This first novel reads like an adrenaline rush. From the first page, the reader will inhale this story of a gun run from Washington, D.C., to New York, exhaling 288 pages later.
Burdon Lane is not a man to admire. He makes his living transporting guns into those areas of the city where the authorities turn a blind eye to residents shooting each other with some regularity. The purpose of his latest run to Harlem is to arm one gang against another. What Burdon does not know is that the government has a man, maybe more than one, inside the run. What the authorities don't know is that someone has a plan of his own. Just as the deal is about to go down, Lane's own people start shooting each other, the gun merchants begin killing their own, and men in police uniforms who are obviously not police show up. Suddenly a prominent civil rights leader marching in a parade nearby is assassinated. When all the shooting stops, Lane finds himself in possession of $2 million intended for the purchase of the guns. He has no idea what has just happened. All he knows is that he must run.
This, then, is the story of a run within a run, and it's one of the most original first novels to come along in a while. Winter has an extraordinary voice, but he also has an underlying message about our gun culture. It is not just about gangsters selling guns; it is about who sells, who buys, and, ultimately, who cares and who doesn't. --Otto Penzler
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Relentlessly paced, this chase novel impressively captures the frantic energy and emotional panic experienced by an East Coast gunrunner forced to flee both his own gang and the law. Written in rough, gritty street vernacular, the story covers about 24 hours in the life of 40-something Burdon Lane, who is part of a large group of criminals transporting a shipment of guns from Washington, D.C., to New York City. Just as the deal is about to go down in a Manhattan tenement, bedlam erupts. As Lane takes cover, his own people start shooting each other, the gun merchants begin killing their own and men dressed in police uniforms but not acting like police mysteriously show up. Meanwhile, somebody assassinates a prominent civil rights leader marching in a parade nearby. When the shooting stops, Lane finds himself in possession of the $2 million intended for the purchase of the guns. He has no idea, however, what has just happened. All he knows is that he must run. Winter sets a torrid tempo for his electric narrative as the plot unfolds. Using cars, trains and his own feet, Lane escapes death time and time again as he makes his way back home to confront his boss about whether the gun deal was merely a diversion in a larger scheme, orchestrated by larger powers, to kill the black political leader. Winter, a noted horror critic and anthologist, has written a memorable debut novel. His otherwise fine outing bogs down only at the end, during a protracted, bloody battle that, for its impact, relies on violence rather than on cunning plot dexterity. BOMC and QPB selections. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
