The captain: A novel

At seventy-six, former Captain of Detectives Walter Hughes is shipped to the home by his children, who complain he is too depressing and too confused. THE CAPTAIN hates his new residence, but none of his children will take him back into their home. Over time, THE CAPTAIN begins to loathe staff members who mistreat and abuse the elderly patients. He manages to obtain his gun and decides to take an active role as an avenging angel. His first victim is Nurse Kay Latimer, who he feels is nasty and malignant. He next kills landlord Leonard and his spouse for cruelly evicting senior citizens. The police and the media search for a serial killer, but no one would suspect the helpless Captain. THE CAPTAIN is a reprinting of a classic who-done-it that centers on elder care, a very pertinent issue for baby boomers. The story line is crisp and exciting as THE CAPTAIN takes things into his own hands to revenge abuse and neglect even as no one suspects he is capable of being the killer. Seymour Shubin's story still sends shock waves up and down the reader's spine as it retains, perhaps even more so, its freshness.Harriet Klausner

THE CAPTAIN by Seymour Shubin: Review As I've become older, it has been increasingly rare that a mystery novel holds my attention beyond a chapter or two. Usually I give up and try something different. Often when goaded, with the promise that the "good stuff" is yet to come, I push on, sometimes happy that I did, more often disappointed. THE CAPTAIN is not one of those books. When Seymour Shubin's THE CAPTAIN arrived, ill-timed though it was amid the confusion of tax preparations, once I started reading I honestly could not put it down. As a mystery writer of sorts myself, I'm impressed, perhaps amazed, at Seymour Shubin's mastery of shifting points of view. Not only do we see the story from different visual perspectives, we are privy to the thoughts of such broadly dissimilar characters as doctors and patients, cops and victims. But Shubin doesn't stop there. Instead, he takes us into the very soul of the characters so that we, the readers, can walk away with an understanding of the motivation behind their conduct, no matter how repugnant, reprehensible, or superficially good. The novel's real strength, however, lies in area that has become somewhat neglected in contemporary mystery writing. Theme. Shubin takes uncommon risks by writing about a subject few of us wish to even think about. He does so with compassion and skill. Without going into details, I will only say that once you've read THE CAPTAIN you may decide to cash in your long-term care policy. And finally, just when you think there will be no more surprises, the knockout final sentence, which sums up what THE CAPTAIN is really about, will leave you thinking about it for a long time to come. Publisher's Weekly had this to say about THE CAPTAIN, "A towering novel that builds to a heart-clutching peak and leaves one profoundly affected." Which may or may not tell you anything; but this I can say for sure, once you read Shubin's novel, you will never forget The Captain.