Fugitive City

by William P. Wood

Overview

A one-man crime wave is shaking the peaceful city of Santa Maria, California, and no place is safe. Kenny Trask, an unpredictable, high-strung, shockingly violent convict, has just escaped from prison and is intent on putting together enough cash to bankroll a new life for himself, his ex-cellmate, and the female defense attorney he believes they must “rescue.” 

 

Only one man is willing to stand in the way: Robby Medavoy, a cop who’s been called a hero, whose unorthodox style has fueled the resentment of rival officers and the suspicions of his superiors. With a contract on his life from his department’s SWAT team, Medavoy must put everything on the line to pull Trask in—his reputation, his survival, and, unexpectedly, the woman he comes to love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620454718
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/26/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

WILLIAM P. WOOD is the author of eight novels and one nonfiction book. As a deputy district attorney in California he handled thousands of criminal cases ranging from disturbing the peace to murder. He put on over 50 jury trials, many with multiple defendants.

Read an Excerpt

 Her snideness steadied him. He regained his control. She cursed herself. At least making threats he wasn’t thinking and she might have spotted some opening, some way out.

“You’re right,” he told her, icily. “Not now. Later we can talk more about it. When Kenny’s asleep.” He dabbed at his lips. Sweating again. Like he’s asked me to the prom instead of threatened to kill me.

Kenny stopped at a big car. He waved his arms toward her, then vanished and she knew he was working on the door.

“Not a Cadillac,” Lisio said disgustingly. “We don’t need a car that big. What’s he thinking of?”

Carol, though, knew immediately. Its artlessness broke through even her tension. “He wants to do the last bank in style,” she said.

Editorial Reviews

Wood's engaging investigative thriller starts off with a bang, as beloved Sacramento police officer and local hero Tommy Ensor is killed in a late-night hit-and-run in front of the California state capitol building. The driver is charitable and good-natured Judge Frank Stevenson, who happens to be preparing for a meteoric rise through the ranks of California's justice system at the time of the accident. With so much to lose, Stevenson exhausts every available option at his disposal in an attempt to cover his tracks, but detectives Terry Nye and Rose Tafoya-along with the rest of the city's police department-are determined to track down the assailant. Meanwhile, assistant chiefs of police Jerry Nishimoto and Lou Altlander vie for the soon-to-be-vacated spot at the head of the department, threatening to turn the investigation into a political charade. Wood (Stay of Execution) is a must-read for those who love a classic, hard-boiled detective novel. (Feb.) for Sudden Impact

From the Publisher

This police procedural opens on a characteristically unlikely (and underdeveloped) scenario: two-bit lawyer Carol Beaufort settles her ravaged nerves with booze and pills; it's five a.m., and she has just received an anonymous phone call. Could it have come from a pickup? she wonders. But her caller is Kenny Trask, a client of hers, a criminal who has just escaped from the jail where she has been sending him steamy letters. Simpleton Trask and his sociopath ex-cell mate force her to join them in a spree of bank robberies that threaten to hamstring the local small but valiant police force, particularly the robbery division led by maverick cop Rob Medavoy. In a plot glued together by improbable coincidences, hero Medavoy has just busted Beaufort's boss and is about to blow the whistle on a circle of crooked flatfoots. Will Medavoy thwart Trask's trio and survive his colleagues' attempts to sabotage him? Former assistant DA Wood ( Gangland ) buries his knowledge of the law enforcement system under exaggerated plot developments and a denouement that is as numbingly predictable as it is moralistic. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly