Maitland
James Patrick Hunt
Five Star, Jan 2005, $25.95, 244 pages, ISBN: 1594142726
reviewed by Harriet Klausner

Closing in on forty, Evan Maitland is co-owner of Collette’s Antiques, a store that specializes in seventeenth and eighteenth century French and Italian furnishings. In spite of this being a younger man’s game; Evan also works as a bounty hunter for Chicago bails bondsman Charlie Mead. Charlie asks Evan to bring back lawyer Barry McDermott who skipped the Windy City with a $300K bond to free him from jail as he is charged with statutory rape having sex with a fifteen year old.

Evan tracks Barry to Oklahoma City, but before he can bring the jumper home, the Jamaican Raetown posse of "Jim" Collins arrives to kill Barry and to recover the $800,000 he failed to launder. In a shootout, Barry and a Jamaican Richard Lawes die while Evan is wounded. Back home recuperating, Jim informs his other two posse members they must clean up the Oklahoma City mess by killing the surviving witness.

MAITLAND is a terrific urban noir starring a tough in your face hero. He shows his grit and intelligence whenever he is chasing a jumper. The exciting story line is action-packed caused by the star; Evan is at his best bringing in those who have fled their court date rather than the exhilarating High Noon showdown with the posse. Hopefully, Maitland ignores his promise to his antiques partner Bianca to concentrate on their business and continues to chase down skippers. An anthology of his cases would make quite a plum for suspense readers.