Envy the Night by Michael Koryta
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This is young author Koryta’s 4th novel. The book jacket says he was first published at age 21. I have not read any of his others, but I enjoyed this book. The plot begs the question: How does a child deal with a negative legacy passed down to him by his parent? Frank Temple III (”. . .There are no juniors around here!. . .”) was just 17 years old when his father, a man he idolized, committed suicide rather than face public trial and probable execution for being a U.S. Marshal that moonlighted as a contract assassin. Frank Temple II was a loving father and superb teacher. He taught his son how to be the best living, lethal weapon on the planet. Seven years after his father’s suicide, Frank III still carries a vendetta for the Miami Man that he thinks forced his father to kill himself. When Frank III gets a tip that the Miami Man is headed up to a cottage on an isolated Wisconsin lake, he decides it’s time to settle the score. Little does he realize that his life is about to collide with two beautiful women, two contract killers, a runaway prison guard, an ex-Vietnam Vet caretaker/former mentor, a friendly Chicago FBI agent, a suspicious Wisconsin FBI agent, and the rear end of a late model silver Lexus. Supposedly, Koryta ran into Dennis Lehane on an elevator early in Kortya’s career and that chance meeting led to a nice dedication written in this book.