Overview
What Dick Francis does for horse racing, John R. Corrigan does for professional golf in his crime novels featuring Jack Austin, a native of Maine and a player on the PGA Tour. Now, with Snap Hook, the first book in the new Hardscrabble Crime series, Corrigan takes Austin deeper into the world of pro golf.The Russian Mafia has long had its claws in North American professional sports-and in Snap Hook it's moving to the PGA Tour. Veteran PGA Tour player Jack Austin has enough to worry about with a balky putter and a rookie caddie-a disadvantaged teen who, like Austin himself, suffers from dyslexia. Winless in ten seasons on the Tour, Austin's putting woes and ensuing poor scores could now cost him his eligibility. When an infant is kidnapped, however, Austin goes after his friend's baby. Soon he comes face to face with Nikoli Silcandrov, a renegade Russian mobster who needs to launder a great deal of money. Austin's final showdown is with PGA Tour superstar Phil Mickelson, when the two go toe-to-toe at the Buick Classic.
Corrigan's first Jack Austin mystery, Cut Shot, was hailed by Robert B. Parker as "a riveting novel, with characters you care about, well conceived and gracefully presented."
Synopsis
Jack Austin comes up against the Russian Mafia, a balky putter and a rookie caddie.
Publishers Weekly
University Press of New England launches its Hardscrabble Crime imprint with John R. Corrigan's Snap Hook: A Jack Austin Mystery, the second in the series after Cut Shot (2001). Pro golfer Austin has to contend with another winless season on the PGA Tour, a troubled caddie, the Russian mob and a tense round at the Buick Classic with real-life golfer Phil Mickelson. (Mar) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Corrigan commands a wealth of technical detail to make Jack's every round vivid and exciting . . . Highly recommended for golfers, golf widows and widowers, and everybody who's ever wondered what the fuss is about."--Kirkus"Corrigan's second Jack Austin mystery (after Cut Shot) features deft prose, clean plotting, and enjoyable subject matter and will appeal to golf fans. It also marks the debut of the Hardscrabble Crime imprint, the University Press of New England's first foray into mystery fiction."--Library Journal
"Corrigan's second Jack Austin novel, starring a PGA touring pro struggling to hold on to his playing credentials, gets a lot of things right. There's plenty of on-course action, and it is mainly authentic and exciting . . . [Corrigan] comes up with a decent premise that doesn't involve bodies in bunkers....There's also an affecting subplot about Austin's dyslexic caddie."--Booklist
"University Press of New England launches its Hardscrabble Crime imprint with John R. Corrigan's Snap Hook: A Jack Austin Mystery, the second in the series after Cut Shot. Pro golfer Austin has to contend with another winless season on the PGA Tour, a troubled caddie, the Russian mob--and a tense round at the Buick Classic with real-life golfer Phil Mickelson."
--Publishers Weekly Mystery Notes section