"This compact yet digressive first novel addresses a popular theme: the adult child's quest for an unknown father. Troubled by the mystery surrounding his father, a boxer, World War II POW, and ice storm victim, Jack Dempsey Cliff leaves his fiancee and Wisconsin home for Kodiak, where he drives a cab and sleeps in a tent, speaking in monosyllables but observing much. During one long Memorial Day night, brief encounters provide Jack with strong associations and desires. He listens to a troubled woman cab driver, a young drifter who knew his father, and an elusive Indian woman with a gun, making their stories his. At night's end, Jack and his acquaintances gather for an unexpectedly abrupt and violent denouement (to both characters and readers)."

- Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio

Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.