Caught
in a Three Strikes law that sends him to prison for life, Nate Larson
negotiates with prosecutors for an early release in exchange for testifying
against his brother in an upcoming trial. As part of the deal, he demands
custody of his fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Grace, who's survived a string
of disastrous foster homes.
Nate
studied close-up magic during his time in prison. He's good, and despite her
wariness Grace joins him for a touring magic show of New England. Nate's actual
plan: to spend a few pleasant months with his granddaughter then run alone to
Canada in hopes of undermining the case against his brother, who's been falsely
accused of trafficking. Pressure comes from that direction, too, from the
actual traffickers who have hijacked the family's legitimate, though secretive,
connections to Eastern Europe and the Ukrainian village of Kortelisy.
Facing
certain violence unless he runs, distraught at the prospect of wounding Grace
unless he stays, Nate must thread a dangerous needle. And Grace, learning to
perform some magic herself, must grow up in a hurry if she's to save the only
person she has ever trusted.
The
Kortelisy Escape is a moving, unlikely love story narrated in alternating
chapters by Grace and Nate Larson. It's also a coming-of-age story enriched by
mounting tension and large questions concerning magic, loyalty and wonder. It's
a book for young and old, intergenerational book clubs especially.
The Kortelisy Escape (Suspense)
By Leonard Rosen
ISBN # 978-1579625429
Price $29.95 (Hardback)
304 Pages
Rating 5-Stars
“The Best Book I’ve Read In A
Decade”
Nate Larson, in prison on a
three-strike law, has a deal for the prosecution – his freedom for helping them
convict his brother, Dima Larson on tax evasion charges. Plus, he wants his
14-year-old granddaughter, Grace put in his custody instead of the state system
where she’s been for ten years in one home after another. But Nate has secret
plans. As a magician he plans his greatest escape. He has it all worked out, a
magic tour that will end near the Canadian border before he is to testify
against his brother. He plans to run before testifying against his brother,
leaving his granddaughter behind as he disappears.
But things don’t go quite as
planned. For one thing he loves his brother, and that gentleman is suffering
from Alzheimer’s, while a Russian mobster is running things - a mobster that
will kill Nate if he doesn’t run. Plus, he has also become too attached to
Grace to leave her.
The Kortelisy Escape is a
magic trick requiring a helper to escape from or he could die. It is also a
story told about a young Ukraine woman who escapes a bad situation. She’s
pregnant by a soldier and is about to commit suicide when a farmer and his wife
rescue her. She is accepted into their family as a daughter and she gives birth
to a son, Nate Larson. Then one day the approaching army kills everyone at the
farm except for Nate and their real son, Dima who are away. Nate and his
adopted brother are sent to America, where the older boy becomes a grocer and
when he can he returns to the Ukraine to rescue young women, bringing them to
America to work in his store until they learn English and find better jobs. The
state believes he is operating a white slavery market, but can’t prove it,
that’s why they’re trying to get him on tax fraud.
This was a beautiful story. Not
only is it a coming of age story, it has everything else: a strong plot, great
characters, a love story about a grandfather and granddaughter coming to terms
with each other, and about love for your family. The Russian mobster who might
kill Nate, or the state authorities that might send him back to prison. He must
figure out an escape that is foolproof. Will Nate be able to pull off the
Kortelisy Escape at the end, or will he have to die to free his brother,
leaving Grace to go back into Foster Care? This novel just proves that authors
can still write great stories. Highly recommended.
Tom
Johnson
Author
of NINA FONTAYNE
