Customer Reviews

Snap Hook (Hardscrabble Books-Fiction of New England)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Though almost ten years on the PGA Tour, golfer Jack Austin struggles to keep his playing card. Though he has never won a tournament and he understands the significance of an experienced caddie can have on the game, Jack still hires a new caddie Nash Henley with limited experience but who suffers from dyslexia like he does.

As he battles to make the cut, he notices a strange individual hanging around the tour. He asks questions and soon learns that Nikoli Silcandrov of the Russian Mafia is scheming to use the PGA Tour to launder money. To insure cooperation, the Nikolai and his thugs kidnap the four month old daughter of PGA Tour Charities Director Brian Taylor, who leads the raising and distributing of $50 million annually. Unable to ignore the double bogie, Jack tries to rescue a youngster and insuring the mob's plan fails while also playing against Phil Mickelson.

In his second book tour, Jack shoots a birdie as golf fans and sport mystery buffs will enjoy his efforts to make the cut and to stop the mobsters. The story line is fast-paced on the greens, in the clubhouse, and off the course as Jack searches for the kidnapped child. His caddie enables the audience to see another side of the caring Jack. Though the audience will have to accept the blackmail premise, readers will believe that John R. Corrigan finished in the top ten with SNAP HOOK.

Harriet Klausner

Jack Austin has a few things going for him that other PGA Tour Professionals don't. The biggest of them is that he keeps wandering into the middle of the damndest things. In this very real and believeable book, he has been shown some of the underside of golf.(again)The Russian Mafia has infiltrated the PGA Tour in order to launder a large amount of money and for insurance on the effort they have kidnapped the four month old daughter of the PGA Tour official who is set to make the money laundering happen. The purpose in doing so is to ensure the success of the mission, but it is in fact one of the things that leads to the whole plots unraveling. Jack Austen is a PGA professional who has yet to win a tournament, but who nevertheless has enjoyed success on the tour. He has a comfortable living arrangement with one of the star reporters for CBS on the tour, he has taken on a "summer project" as his caddy, a dyslexic black teenager (Austen is also dyslexic and understands the disease) and while pursuing his favorite occupation, both arrangements get very complicated.

This is really a human interest story which uses the PGA Tour as it's backdrop and does so in an interesting and convincing fashion. Phil Mickelson even makes an appearance and continues his winning ways.

I liked this book even more than his first one, The characters remain in character throughout the book, the plot is interesting and the resolution is in doubt for some time. A first rate effort and a compelling read.

As a prolific reader of fiction, I'm always looking for that new twist. Using the PGA Tour as the back drop got me hooked (pun intended) on Corrigan's Jack Austin series. I liked his first book but this one is better. I suspect that Corrigan is going to be around for awhile.

The greatest strength of John Corrigan's second Jack Austin novel is the wonderfully developed characters he has created. While the storyline is very exciting, Corrigan makes the book memorable by fleshing out the people who populate its pages. I cannot wait to read his other books because I care for these characters. I hope Jack Austin will be around for a long time.

When I started this book, I could not put it down. The characters and story line got me hooked and I couldn't wait to see what happened in the end. This is an enjoyable book for mystery lovers and golf addicts alike.

I really enjoyed John R. Corrigan's second "Jack Austin" mystery, Snap Hook. The characters are so believable, I found myself rooting for the good guys throughout. The chemistry between Jack and Perkins is great, funny, but tender at times. Am looking forward to Corrigan's number three in this series.
C. McComb

Not a good read. hard to follow, unrealistic (even for a fictional mystery), poor story line. Not what I was looking for.