Anthony Lee, The Fix

Anthony Lee, The Fix - In the Catskills, at his father's country home, Felix "Fee" Pasko and his best friend, small time hood Martin Quinn, discuss betraying fathers when their mutual enemy Terry Hughes arrives to kill them both. Terry murders Fee, but Martin kills the hitman. The New York police arrest Martin for the double homicides; however, the DA offers him a deal he shouldn't refuse. He can start over in the witness protection program if he turns state's evidence against his "family" the Italians who raised him or he can take his chance in court on double first degree murder charges.

When Felix's father, the head of the Russian Mafia, sends his goons to kill the murderer of his son, Martin realizes he so far has been fortunate to stay alive. He needs to move out fast if he rejects the Feds' offer and somehow retrieve his share of the heroin money. Wherever he goes, law enforcement and the Russian Mob follow him for he rejects negotiating with either to keep his respect, but the cost could be more than his life, he could lose his beloved Penelope.

This is an exciting thriller starring a law-breaking antihero who decides to risk his life not just for the loot, but more for his self respect. The storyline is action-packed, though some of the significant secondary players like the Feds and the mobsters are caricatures rather than full-blooded (though they bleed). Still, Quinn carries the tale with his chutzpah gauntlet run.

Dark Alley, May 2005, $13.95

ISBN: 0060595345

Harriet Klausner