Eighteen-year-old Eddie Nye was bound for U.S.C. and a bright future that fateful summer in the Bahamas. But somebody set Eddie up. Instead of four years of higher education, he did fifteen behind bars for drug smuggling. Eddie went in innocent, but with three prison murders under his belt, he comes out dangerous. Although all he wants is to stay clean, Eddie’s future won’t be that easy. The nightmares of his past—corruption, greed, and most of all a stunning betrayal—are on a collision course with a daring plot hatched in a prison cell. To learn the secret of his own life, half-hidden in an ancient mariner’s saga, Eddie must face the hardest choice a free man can make.
From the Paperback edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The author of The Fury of Rachel Monette here creates a fascinating and memorable character in Eddie Nye, a young man who spends 15 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. After he is finally released, Eddie quickly discovers that a strange meeting with an incarcerated drug kingpin on his last day in prison has somehow enmeshed him in an intricate and dangerous plot. Seeking out his older brother, a Wall Street "investment consultant" who deserted him while he was behind bars, Eddie uncovers a pattern of betrayal reaching all the way back to the day the Coast Guard arrested him on account of a cache of shipboard drugs he knew nothing about. Eddie, who became an avid reader while in jail and is particularly fascinated by "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," asks everyone he meets in the course of his suspenseful investigation why they think the old sailor killed the albatross and why he suffered so as a result--as with his own case, the punishment seems out of proportion to the crime in Eddie's eyes. A fateful decision to try and help his brother out of overwhelming financial troubles leads to the discovery of some awful secrets and to personal disaster for Eddie. Abrahams spares the reader nothing, in gritty dialogue and often gruesome detail. Consistently interesting and suspenseful, his thriller's shocking outcome is revealed only on the very last page. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The summer before he was to go to USC on a swimming scholarship, Eddie Nye became innocently involved in a marijuana smuggling scheme and wound up in jail. He should have been out in three or four years, but his response to a brutal prison "initiation" forced him to serve his full 15-year sentence. Now he is back on the streets, looking for answers. His search is complicated by a powerful drug lord and fellow inmate, who sees in the unwitting Eddie the perfect messenger for some very important information. Like Eddie's favorite poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the novel is concerned with penitence, though it's not clear for what, since Eddie proves himself to be a man of rare honor and courage in a world defined by evil and greed. Nonetheless, this gritty new novel by the author of Revolution #9 ( LJ 7/92) is highly recommended for all libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/93; Abrahams will be one of the authors appearing at the LJ /Mysterious Press breakfast this summer at ALA.--Ed. - Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
Eighteen-year-old Eddie Nye was bound for U.S.C. and a bright future that fateful summer in the Bahamas. But somebody set Eddie up. Instead of four years of higher education, he did fifteen behind bars for drug smuggling. Eddie went in innocent, but with three prison murders under his belt, he comes out dangerous. Although all he wants is to stay clean, Eddie’s future won’t be that easy. The nightmares of his past—corruption, greed, and most of all a stunning betrayal—are on a collision course with a daring plot hatched in a prison cell. To learn the secret of his own life, half-hidden in an ancient mariner’s saga, Eddie must face the hardest choice a free man can make.
From the Paperback edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The author of The Fury of Rachel Monette here creates a fascinating and memorable character in Eddie Nye, a young man who spends 15 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. After he is finally released, Eddie quickly discovers that a strange meeting with an incarcerated drug kingpin on his last day in prison has somehow enmeshed him in an intricate and dangerous plot. Seeking out his older brother, a Wall Street "investment consultant" who deserted him while he was behind bars, Eddie uncovers a pattern of betrayal reaching all the way back to the day the Coast Guard arrested him on account of a cache of shipboard drugs he knew nothing about. Eddie, who became an avid reader while in jail and is particularly fascinated by "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," asks everyone he meets in the course of his suspenseful investigation why they think the old sailor killed the albatross and why he suffered so as a result--as with his own case, the punishment seems out of proportion to the crime in Eddie's eyes. A fateful decision to try and help his brother out of overwhelming financial troubles leads to the discovery of some awful secrets and to personal disaster for Eddie. Abrahams spares the reader nothing, in gritty dialogue and often gruesome detail. Consistently interesting and suspenseful, his thriller's shocking outcome is revealed only on the very last page.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The summer before he was to go to USC on a swimming scholarship, Eddie Nye became innocently involved in a marijuana smuggling scheme and wound up in jail. He should have been out in three or four years, but his response to a brutal prison "initiation" forced him to serve his full 15-year sentence. Now he is back on the streets, looking for answers. His search is complicated by a powerful drug lord and fellow inmate, who sees in the unwitting Eddie the perfect messenger for some very important information. Like Eddie's favorite poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the novel is concerned with penitence, though it's not clear for what, since Eddie proves himself to be a man of rare honor and courage in a world defined by evil and greed. Nonetheless, this gritty new novel by the author of Revolution #9 ( LJ 7/92) is highly recommended for all libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/93; Abrahams will be one of the authors appearing at the LJ /Mysterious Press breakfast this summer at ALA.--Ed.
- Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.