Catch By Sean J. Quirk

Review by Sara Jayne Townsend

Catch Harris is an ex-military man having trouble adjusting to civilian life. He has difficulty connecting with human beings, and prefers to move through life alone. When a waitress in his diner, Hallie, tries to strike up a conversation with him he dismisses her, but then he sees Hallie being abducted when she leaves work, and feeling guilty about brushing her off earlier, decides to rescue her. Thus begins a thrilling chase through a brutal winter storm as Catch and Hallie seek to elude their pursuers and keep out of their grasp the item they covet so ardently – a mysterious package sent to Hallie by her father. The package contains an item that could change the world as we know it.

There is a decent story here, but it is let down by some really bad editing. There is an abundance of grammatical errors, including at least three instances of the word “its” containing an erroneous comma. The novel really needs a couple of rounds with a good editor.

On the positive side, however, this is a page turner of a story. The chase is a thrilling ride, and the characters of Catch and Hallie really grow on you. Neither of them starts off as particularly likable – Catch is a man without any apparent redeeming features, and Hallie introduces herself to him by plonking herself down opposite him in his booth after serving him, and trying to talk to him when he clearly wants to be left alone – something I would find intensely irritating, if I were in his position. But the characters grow closer as they find themselves running for their lives, and in doing so they endear themselves to the reader, as well as to each other.

On the face of it, this is a straight crime thriller, but the mysterious artefact that is at the centre of the chase gives the story a distinct SF flavour.

If you can forgive the grammatical errors, there is a story here worth reading.

Rating: 3/5 stars

To get your copy of Catch please check out the following Amazon links:

UK: Catch

USA: Catch