Moving Day

Crisp, elegant prose distinguishes this exceptional crime thriller from Stone (Parting Shots). Nick, an accomplished grifter, preys on the elderly, but he grossly underestimates 72-year-old Stanley Peke, who plans to move to Santa Barbara, Calif., with his wife after 40 years in Westchester, N.Y. The day before the real moving men are due, Nick and his team arrive at the Pekes’ house “in crisp green uniforms, an immense white truck behind them.” The physically robust Stanley has started to forget little things, like where he puts his keys or his wallet, so he assumes he has the date wrong. After packing up and loading the Pekes’ possessions in the white truck, Nick and crew head for Montana. This betrayal brings back memories of Stanley’s horrific boyhood in Poland escaping the Nazis. With steely resolve, he sets out on a cross-country road trip to retrieve his stolen property. Readers will cheer this unlikely hero every step of the way. [em]Jill Marr, Sandra Djikstra Literary Agency. (May) [/em]