The Corruptions: A Jack Marconi Thriller

In Zandri’s gritty fourth Jack Marconi thriller (after 2015’s The Guilty), New York’s governor, Leon Valente, asks the prison warden turned PI to capture two self-proclaimed psychopaths and convicted cop-killers who have escaped from Clinton Maximum Security Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y. Valente wants the fugitives alive, before the state troopers or the FBI can get them. Marconi enlists the aid of his trusty sidekick, Black, once a pro-football player and former inmate at the prison over which Marconi presided. After a few nasty run-ins with state trooper Vincent D’Amico and some more amiable encounters with Sheriff Bridgette Hylton, Marconi begins to think there’s something more going on than just two cons who wanted to jump the prison walls. The camaraderie and knockabout verbal style between Marconi and Black make their scenes together thoroughly enjoyable and create a welcome relief from the violence and decadence that they uncover as they make their way through a tangled web of corruption, perversion, and greed. Agent: Chip MacGregor, MacGregory Literary. (Jan.)