Víctor Gischler, Suicide Squeeze

V ctor Gischler, Suicide Squeeze - In Florida, Connor Samson is a could-have been who never was as his sure-shot major league baseball career never panned out. Now he is broke, drinks beer and watches sports on color TVs that have become black and white or fuzzy gray when they work. Connor hits an all-time low when he is called out on strikes because his check for brews at Salty's Saloon bounces higher than a bouncing rubber donut.

Knowing he better pay his tab if he wants bar beers, as the Floridian dives share more information than national security organizations, he asks his friend, Gulf Coast Collections Ed Odeski, for work. Connor is assigned to repo the Electric Jenny boat from Teddy Folger, who has fled to Pensacola, Florida, after burning down his Mobile, Alabama, comic book store in an insurance scam. Inside the vessel, Connor finds a Maz (World Series game seven walk off home run) as Terry left behind an extremely valuable Joe DiMaggio card that contains the autographs of the Yankee Clipper, Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder. However, American memorabilia collector, Japanese billionaire Ahira Kurisaka, demands ownership of the card. He sends his thugs who use bats to bash heads to squeeze the card out of Connor.

SUICIDE SQUEEZE is a zany, southeast caper starring an intriguing loser with a chance for a grand slam if he survives long enough to swing the bat. As expected from a Victor Gischler thriller (see THE PISTOL POETS and GUN MONKEY), the crazies are out in force seeking fellow lunatic Connor. Desperate to try a SUICIDE SQUEEZE though bunting is not his forte; Connor hopes to live past the seventh inning stretch of a wild game.

Delacorte, Apr 2005, $23.00, 288 pp.

ISBN: 0385337256

Harriet Klausner