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‘Caught’ an exciting adventure

Lisa Moore was the winner of Canada Reads 2013 with her book February. That story was about the Ocean Ranger disaster, and one woman’s grief and loss.The character this time is Dave Slaney, who has slipped under the chain link fence at prison, belly crawled the long grass and run for his life. He has help, of course, on the outside, and the first link, the Big Rig that picks him up on the highway, is right on time.
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Caught

By Lisa Moore

$29.95 Anansi Press

Lisa Moore was the winner of Canada Reads 2013 with her book February. That story was about the Ocean Ranger disaster, and one woman’s grief and loss.

The character this time is Dave Slaney, who has slipped under the chain link fence at prison, belly crawled the long grass and run for his life. He has help, of course, on the outside, and the first link, the Big Rig that picks him up on the highway, is right on time.

Things are going very well, though in the pit of his stomach is the terror that he will not get away. Most escapees are caught on their first night out, but Dave has faith in his friend Hearne.

Dave has been in prison for four years. The importation of two tons of Colombian pot was the crime, and his partner and friend Brian Hearne had jumped bail and taken off, while Dave did the time. But now Hearne has a new plan, a bigger and better plan, and he needs Dave to sail the boat to Colombia, plus he owes him big time.

They have been best buds since grade school. This time Hearne knows in his gut that they will not get caught and they’ll be stinkin’ rich.

Slaney trusts Hearne.

Meanwhile the roads are crawling with cops, and Dave’s picture is widely circulated on newspaper and TV.

The word “caught” in the title seems to be about Dave, but there are no characters in this tale who are not caught, in some way.

Jennifer, the woman Dave loves, is caught. She still loves him after a fashion but time has put her in another life, and there is no going back.

Staff Sgt. Patterson is caught: his job depends on catching Slaney, and his personal life is as complicated as it can be.

Gerald, a character in the bar, is caught in alcoholism and a gambling addiction. He’d be amusing if he wasn’t so pathetic.

Carter is caught in a bottle, and Hearne is the guy who “catches” others in the plan, but keeps his distance and keeps his options open.

Most of the people who Dave meets along the way are going nowhere. When you’re flitting, you don’t hit the high-class places.

Now Slaney is with Hearne again, a great reunion of old friends, and Hearne lets David in on the new plan, one with no hitches, their ticket to the big time.

As David listens to the details, he sees that he has no input and too many people he doesn’t know are part of the plan. His partners on the trip are Carter, who owns the ship but is mentally iffy, and a young girl named Ada, who believes herself to be in love with Carter.

They sail to Colombia, they make their contacts, they load the pot. They are going to be rich.. Here, there is adventure, friendship, betrayal and danger. It’s a good exciting tale.

Peggy Freeman is a local freelance book reviewer.