Friday, July 01, 2011

Forgotten Books: Hunt the Killer -- Day Keene

When it comes to man-on-the-run novels, Day Keene was right up there with his friend Harry Whittington. The day Charlie White gets out of prison after four years, his wife's not waiting for him outside. A beautiful Cuban woman is, however, and she tells Charlie that not only is he safe but that he has $48,000 in a Cuban bank just waiting for him. Which would be a pretty good deal, except that someone kills the woman while she's in Charlie's arms and tries to kill Charlie, too.

Charlie lives, but he's the fall guy for the murder. He thinks his only hope is to get back to his wife and prove that he's not the killer. The manhunt is on all over Florida, and Charlie's just one step ahead of the cops and others out to get him. You know it's all going to work out in the end, but the fun is in seeing how Keene manages to work it all out. You might not remember this book for a month, but you'll remember how you were glued to it while you were reading. Luckily Stark House is coming out with a triple-decker Keene volume in the fall, and this novel is one of the three. Check it out.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm on board for that triple decker! Do you have a title?

Unknown said...

Check http://www.starkhousepress.com/keene.html

Todd Mason said...

On the minus side, I hardly ever have beautiful, mysterious Cuban women awaiting me with the promise of big money. On the plus, I've never had to be discharged from jail and have nearly the first to happen be the murder of that woman.

It's a variation on a popular hook for a reason, definitely. I haven't read enough Keene, yet.