From Publishers Weekly
The Chicago underworld shines in a lurid, hard-boiled light, in what may be Izzi's ( Invasions ) most dynamic performance to date. Scant honor but plenty of heart can be found among the ex-cons, mobsters, street punks and white-collar sharks who make up the well-drawn cast. On his release from prison, after taking the rap for powerful money-launderer Darrin Favore, B & E ace Catfeet Millard learns that the mob chief--vindictive because Catfeet has fathered a child by the only woman Favore can't lure into his bed--has kept the meter running on his loan to Catfeet of 28 grand. Enraged and apprehensive, Catfeet enlists the aid of his adopted son, an Ivy League ex-con; Favore summons his cheerily sadistic nephew; and the moves and countermoves begin. Their mutual love interest, Catfeet's mistress and Favore's secretary, a wonderfully realized, tough but openhearted black woman named Femal (her illiterate mother was confused by the birth certificate) adds abundant warmth to the tale. Further perspective on the grisly infighting is provided by Dick Baldane, an upright, uptight cop picking his dismayed way through police brutality and racism. Izzi hits the big time here. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Former Edgar-nominee Izzi offers yet another fast-paced tale of crime in Chicago. Robert "Catfeet" Millard, a "prowler," or topnotch thief, went to jail rather than squeal on a mob gambling chief to whom he owed $22,000. Now out of jail, Catfeet finds that his tab to the mob is up to $3 million. To get out of this impossible situation, Catfeet must either outwit the mob or die. His task is complicated by his relationships with several of the other characters, including Femal, the beautiful black woman who works for the wiseguy trying to collect from Catfeet. Izzi's Chicago is a frightening, harsh place, peopled by few characters one can care about. Izzi knows how to tell a story, though, and readers won't be able to resist being drawn into his rough and threatening world. Elmore Leonard fans take note--Izzi's moving in. Recommended for large fiction or crime fiction collections.
- Dean James, Houston Acad. of Medicine/Texas Medical Ctr. Lib.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
An aging con faces down a greedy mobster in Izzi's fifth, masterful Chicago crime-thriller (Invasions, etc.). Robert ``Catfeet'' Millard is the likable burglar (``prowler'') now free after serving 28 months for refusing to rat to a grand jury on amoral mobster Darrin Favore--only to learn that Favore has ``kept the meter running'' on Catfeet's $22,000 gambling debt, which now totals a whopping $3.6 million. To get Favore off his back, Catfeet turns to mob boss Salvatore Lucchesa, who agrees to speak to Favore--and drops dead on the spot. Now without protection, Catfeet seeks out the two people who love him: Favore's secretary and unrequited lust-object--the source of his hatred for Catfeet--upscale black beauty Femal Tyler, who turns Catfeet inside out when she surprises him with a baby daughter; and Catfeet's adopted son, Charlie Lane, a reformed ex-con who, faced with a shrewish wife and a dead-end job, is once again listening to call of the streets. Also woven with a rhythmic hand into the fierce tapestry are Favore's sadistic nephew, Merle Como, sicked onto Catfeet by the mobster, and idealistic cop Dick Blandane, whose battles with his racist colleagues provide a right-side-of-the-law counterpoint to Catfeet's war with Favore. That war reaches a bitter end as, drunk and desperate but honorable to the last, Catfeet turns cold on Charlie to keep the youth from going after Favore, then is beaten to death by Merle. Finally it's up to Femal and Charlie to avenge Catfeet--which they do with style but not without penalty, as Charlie is arrested by Blandane and Femal must flee to Africa. Hard, smooth, and dark: Izzi at last clears out his Elmore Leonardisms and sings in his own voice a strong and sad song of the streets. His best book--and positively operatic. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
