Bait [Hardcover]

Kenneth Abel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1994

After killing mobster Johnny D'Angelo's only son in a drunk-driving accident, narcotics detective Jack Walsh finds himself stripped of his badge and on the run, all the while trying to solve the murder of his partner. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Abel's brisk, sparely written thriller reads more like an accomplished 10th novel than a debut. Jack Walsh, a cop who has been hitting the bottle since his partner died in an aborted drug bust, wakes up in a Boston hospital after an automobile accident to learn that the other car's driver--the only son of local crime boss Johnny D'Angelo--is dead, which means Walsh is as good as dead himself. After resigning from the force and serving time in a state medical facility, Walsh holes up in his hometown, Athol, Mass., to wait for the Mafia hit he knows is coming. Unknown to Walsh, the DA's office has him under surveillance; they're using him for bait, hoping to get evidence against D'Angelo when the mobster comes gunning for him. So begins a cat-and-mouse game that involves Walsh's family and neighbors, D'Angelo's future son-in-law and the DA's office. Walsh has very little chance of surviving unless he can get someone to listen to his suspicions about a crooked cop who might be responsible for the death of his partner. Abel skillfully makes several potentially cliched characters quite believable, and delivers his complicated plot with the simplicity of screenplay stage directions. Unlike many first novels, this one is delightfully free of authorial excess.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The best way to describe this debut novel is dark . Detective Jack Walsh thinks that his life has hit rock-bottom the night his partner is shot, but the incident only presages hard times to come. In response to his partner's death, Walsh begins to drink, and that's when his real problems begin--he kills the son of a mob boss in a car accident. Walsh finds himself under suspicion from the bereaved father's organization and the police department at the same time. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Walsh finds that his only escape is to stick his neck out even further (becoming bait) by agreeing to serve as a kind of informant on the underworld that is trying to kill him. Despite the novel's grim story line and gritty writing style, Abel does not overdo the violence. Recommended for public libraries where crime novels are popular.
- Jim Cunningham, Illinois Mathematics & Science Acad., Aurora
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 345 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Printing edition (February 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385311907
• ISBN-13: 978-0385311908
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,757,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, character-driven cop novel, August 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bait (Mass Market Paperback)

Abel's first at bat is a well plotted cop novel with complex character interaction. His writing is subtle (there comes a point in the book when you begin to understand where all the pieces he's laid before you are falling, and it's like WOW), but there's enough violence to keep things visceral. Check out his next, "The Blue Wall." It's even better than "Bait."

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Turn of 20th Century Fiction since that hack Joyce, May 23, 2000

By 

MLR (Gambier, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bait (Mass Market Paperback)

This is amazing! The story centers around Walch, good cop goes bad, simple story, right? With Abel's knack for twists, Bait ropes you in. Read it. Put down Ulysses. Read it. This is the new Noir! All hail Abel!

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely no action in this book!!, July 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bait (Hardcover)

When reading the summary on the book jacket for this book I was expecting a real action oriented novel. Boy was I disappointed. There is absolutely nothing going on in this book. You get to hear a lot about Jack Walsh and his goofy brother. He meets some other goofy characters that help him along the way. Then you get to the big ending. Anyone who has ever read a suspense novel can figure out the ending in this book. Overall, not a very good book (but that's just my opinion). :-(