Lemar Pye, his mentally retarded cousin, Odell and a third man escape from McAlester State Penn, a maximum security prison. With nothing to lose, they go on a killing and robbery spree in Oklahoma.
One of their stops is a ranch belonging to a WWII veteran named, Bill Stepford, who lives there with his wife, Mary.
State Police Sgt. Bud Pewtie and his young partner, Ted Pepper, happen to stop at the ranch when Bill doesn't show up at a restaurant where he has coffee each morning. Not suspecting that they are approaching two cold blooded killers, the troopers are ambushed. Pepper is killed and Pewtie is wounded.
Stephen Hunter gives an excellent, well plotted story of the escape, the horrors that the fugitives commit and the relentless pursuit.
There are no real heroes in this story. Bud Pewtie is a self centered egotist who is having an affair with his young partner's wife. His lieutenant is an alcoholic and Lemar Pye has no redeeming traits. In fact, it is Pye's evilness that leaves the reader with a haunted memory that will last for a long time. With someone like Pye, who has no hesitancy for the taking of anther's life, I was totally wrapped up in the chase to bring him to justice before he could kill again.
An enjoyable reading experience.
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