As Catch Can [Hardcover]

Vincent Zandri (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1999

Jack Marconi is known as "the Keeper." But in this powerful debut novel, a literary thriller that lays bare the notions of trust and hope, Jack is going to find that everything he's been holding on to can be swept away in the matter of a moment.

It's been a year since Jack's wife was killed in a bizarre, unresolved auto accident.  Ever since, he's been slipping up in his job as the warden of Green Haven, a concrete prison in upstate New York, and it makes him the perfect patsy when an infamous cop-killer escapes with the help of someone on the inside.  Throwing himself into the hunt for the fleeing convict, Jack doesn't see what's coming.

Suddenly, he's through the looking glass, and in the next twenty-four hours, Jack will defy direct orders, tamper with evidence, kidnap the con's girlfriend, and run from the law with a .45 hidden beneath his sports coat.  Because Jack Marconi, keeper of laws, men, secrets, and memories, has been set up by a conspiracy that has turned everyone he ever trusted into an enemy.  And everything he ever believed in into the worst kind of lie.

With tough, lurid prose, Vincent Zandri has crafted a haunting, broodingly paranoid thriller that moves relentlessly to its final, unforgettable twist.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Freelance journalist Vincent Zandri was collaborating on the memoirs of a Sing Sing prison guard when he got the idea for a thriller about a warden who has to solve a crime to keep his job and his self-respect. This solid base of reality plus Zandri's lively writing give As Catch Can a definite edge.

Jack "Keeper" Marconi knows he's in trouble when a cop killer named Eduard Vasquez escapes from his Green Haven Maximum Security Prison in upstate New York after a trip to an outside dentist which he had approved. Keeper is clearly being fitted for a frame by his superiors in the state's penal system--men with whom he shared a baptism of fire as young guards during the bloody riots at Attica 26 years before.

Haunted by these ghosts of his former self and a time when justice seemed more clear-cut, Keeper goes off on his own to see who really helped Vasquez escape. Recently widowed and fogged by too much booze, Keeper could easily have become a rerun of an all-too-familiar genre icon. But Zandri makes both the man and job interesting and original by paying attention to details--from the way the weather affects the prisoners' behavior to the delicate balancing act that governs the relations between guards and prisoners. And there's more than enough creativity and research left over for a promised sequel. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

A jailbreak at the Green Haven Maximum Security Prison in Stormville, N.Y., leads to the escape of cop killer Eduard Vasquez and no end of grief for Jack "Keeper" Marconi, the prison warden. Marconi has to investigate the escape on the q.t. as his superiors are clearly setting him up for a fall. The prison guards who escorted Vasquez on a trip to the dentist are faking the injuries they allegedly endured in the escape; drugs are planted in Marconi's office; the escapee's girlfriend, Cassandra Wolf, appears in porno photos with Marconi's superiors, the same men with whom he survived the Attica prison riots 16 years earlier as an 18-year-old guard. Vasquez's trail leads to a small town in upstate New York where Cassandra is hiding out. When a major character dies, she and Marconi must go on the lam to clear themselves of the murder. In his impressive debut novel, Zandri writes strong prose that rarely strains for effect, and some of his scenes, particularly the Attica flashbacks, achieve a powerful hallucinatory horror. His characters aren't wholly original?like too many macho heroes, for instance, Marconi is a widower who likes his whiskey?but they add lots of color to a tough-minded, involving novel that deserves its promised sequel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385333102
• ISBN-13: 978-0385333108
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,284,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling author of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, CONCRETE PEARL, MOONLIGHT RISES and SCREAM CATCHER. He is also the author of the bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL and MOONLIGHT MAFIA. Harlan Coben has described his novels as "...gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting," while the New York Post called THE INNOCENT, "Sensational...Masterful...Brilliant!" In March, April and May of 2011, he sold more than 100,000 Kindle E-Book editions of his novels. In September 2011, he signed a "very nice" deal with the Thomas & Mercer crime imprint of Amazon for the publication of his new novels, Blue Moonlight and Murder by Moonlight, along with the re-publication of many of his back-list titles, including The Innocent and The Remains. Zandri's list of publishers also include Delacorte, Dell, StoneHouse Ink and StoneGate Ink. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri's work is translated into many languages including the Dutch, Russian, and Japanese. An adventurer, foreign correspondent, and freelance photo-journalist for RT, Globalspec, IBTimes and more, he lives in New York. For more go to WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A non-stop fast-paced thriller about prison corruption., February 8, 1999

By 

Louis Volse ([e-mail]) (Culver City, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As Catch Can (Hardcover)

I Just finished reading Vincent Zandri's powerful first novel, "As Catch Can". It's a non-stop thriller with all too vivid characters who come to life in the reader's mind. The narration is fast paced and certainly held this reader's interest. The plot revolves around a prison warden who is caught in a situation where he is accused of dereliction of duty in permitting a cop killer inmate to escape from his maximum security prison. Life inside the prison is depicted in graphic detail, reflecting the problems of life behind prison walls. One of the most striking parts of the story deals with flashbacks of a fictional (although based on fact) account of the Attica prison riots of 1971 in which many of the CO's were tortured, raped, and murdered by the mutinous inmates. I found these descriptions hair raising, arousing feelings of horror at the extent of human degradation possible. The story depicts modern day vice and corruption, as well as Keeper Marconi's spiritual capacity to "play fair" in a game that's rigged against him. The book makes thrilling reading that doesn't allow the reader to put the volume down. It's the kind of novel that should become an edge-of-the-seat movie thriller. If you like crime thrillers, this is the book for you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very intense from start to finish!, August 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: As Catch Can (Hardcover)

This review is in response to slamming reviews I've recently read,please expand yor brutal attack on Zandri's work.This is a first novel for what seems to be a budding young author I was extremely pleased with his knowledge of the prison system,and graphic account of the Attica riots.Zandri proves that there are still stories left to be told w/ Micky Spillane attitude.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Albert Victory Set Free!, December 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: As Catch Can (Hardcover)

Anyone up on the recent release of cop-killer Albert Victory will recognize many similarities between his daring 1968 escape from Green Haven Prison and the escape which takes place at the onset of Zandri's, As Catch Can. While Zandri loosely bases fictional cop-killer, Eduard Vazquez's present day escape on Victory's (the prisoner and his prison guards being assaulted by ski-mask wearing assailants), his purpose is to write a great fictional story, loaded with realism. But releasing a real-life cop killer like Victory is insane. All in all, this is one killer debut novel. A victory for Zandri. As for the real life Victory? He's just a killer.