Way Past Legal

When I started this book, I was sooo disappointed at first. It's certainly not the type of mystery I normally read & was about to chuck it. I'm glad I gave it a few more pages beause it really grows on you. Who would think some low-life could have you rooting for him? Give it a try- some characters stretch the imagination, I agree, but in the long run, it was worth my time & then some. Hard to put down once all the plot pulled together.

I rate "thrillers" and mysteries on the basis of "would I like to hang out with these people?" Plot and writing are important but secondary. I will stop in the middle, no matter how exciting or well crafted if the characters are just not the kind of people I want to spend time with. This one passes with no question at all. Lots of great people I would want to know better. The plot and the writing hold up as well.

This was my introduction to Norman Green and it passed all my tests for a 5-star novel: After reading it I want to (1) read all of Green's prior work, while waiting for his next; (2) tell my friends about Norman Green and give them this book; and (3) "eyeball" rather than "merely" listen to Green's novels.

I loved this book because the characters are so real.They are not the cartoonish types you read so oftenfrom lesser writers. Norman Green is an author withthe talent to write his characters with all their complexity and not just some cardboard cutouts that are so often written about. Manny,Nicky,Rosarioand all the folks in Maine are real, live humans with all the facets of human strength and frailty. The storyof how Manny gets from NY to Maine is equally complex andcompelling. Norman Green can write and I truly hopehe never stops. I am going out to get his previoustwo books just to get my fix...and you should, too!

Manny Williams enjoyed his vocation of master thief, but his last job left him wealthy though concerned. He and Rosario hit a small Brooklyn brokerage house expecting a small "fee", which is better than too much, but got the mother lode instead. Though they escape to Coney Island, he knows the Russian mob will be looking for him. In retirement, Manny thinks the time is right to snatch his five-year-old son Nicky out of a lousy foster care family and start over just the two of them.The abduction goes smooth until Manny and Nicky reach Eastport, Maine, where he has car trouble. The townsfolk treat the two Williams males as if they have been long time residents as he waits for his vehicle to be repaired. However, his previous life comes to New England as his Brooklyn based enemies have a score to settle and arrive with guns firing at anyone who stand between them and Manny. Surprising even himself Manny refuses to let those angels who have come to the aid of he and Nicky get hurt even if it means his life for this small town as taught the cynic the meaning of life.This is a refreshing character study wrapped inside a delightful thriller. The story line is a bright look at the trials and tribulations of a single father, raising (and running) with a kindergarten age child. The cast is top rate, but Manny is the focus as he learns the importance of caring for others in this small out of the way Maine town though the lesson may cost him his life.Harriet Klausner