Catskill

By John R. Hayes

In 1938, the isolated Catskill mountain town of Chicken Corners, near Lake Repose in upstate New York is drawn into the events of the world beyond. For 200 years the beautiful Catskill mountain area had been home (or second home) to city people of all stripes, from fugitive slaves to wealthy German-Jews and wealthier society folk. The Catskills are beautiful, but they are not paradise. Like everywhere else, there is greed and bigotry and murder.One evening three young men climb a hillside with rifles on their shoulders and fire down on a dilapidated farmhouse packed with refugee Jews. They aim high, but at the end of their foray a local woman lies dead.It falls on Martin Collins, an old Tammany Hall politician, to take charge. He calls in his chips from a powerful friend in the church, enlists his frightened grandsons, and works closely with the half-Algonquin sheriff and a varied handful of other residents to a harrowing climax, one that foils an attempted land grab and overcomes a legend, at the cost of human life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312281536
• ISBN13: 9780312281533
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

rich characterizations and a very strong sense of place

At an old farmhouse in Chicken Corners, New York-the heart of the Catskill Mountains, three men fire their rifles. Inside the house is a group of immagrant Jews trying to escape the oppressive city for a weekend. As they flee the house in abject terror, one body, that of a woman lies dead at the foot of a staircase. On closer examination, the dead woman is a local resident and was, in fact killed by a bullet to the back of the head shot at close range by a pistol. Local Sheriff Charlie Evans must try to solve not only the murder but who was shooting at the house filled with Jews and why. In getting through this case, Charlie must deal with the locals and their legends including one of the Indian Killer, Tom Quick, a symbol of racial intolerance. Substantially rich characterizations and a very strong sense of place make CATSKILL an above average read. Each character is well thought out with virtually no true stereotypes present. The length was relatively brief but quite adequate to contain the less than compelling plot. However, the strong writing style of debut author, John Hayes, as well as, the satisfactory conclusion make this a recommended read.

Great book

I should know I am Hugh T. McQuade grandson of the character Martin Collins is based on,you will not stop reading once you start

A Great Read

Don't start this book in the evening if you have to work the next day - I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Usually, I avoid "historical" novels, because I get bogged down in the history and lose the plot along the way. Not the case with this story - it's an engaging plot with the right amount of historical context that propells the story line forward. The characters are rich and varied - I enjoyed it!

An historical mystery

In the tradition of E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime, Catskill combines real life historical figures with a fast-paced murder mystery set in l938. Characters from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Sid Caesar and Eddie Cantor set foot in this carefully plotted and cleanly written story. The legacy of Indian killers and the underground railroad merge with the plight of refugees from Nazi Germany, but the history doesnt get in the way of the story. A quick and interesting pleasure to read.

Good read; good history

I really enjoyed this book. What you've really got here is a well paced page-turner of a mystery (a good beach read if it weren't September) wrapped with themetic elements that raise it above your typical quick-read whodunit. Catskill is set in the 1930s, but it tells a story as old as America: the conflict between ever-changing groups of old timers and newcomers. Indians lose out to frontiersmen; old, local families are suspicious of 19th century Catholic newcomers, who in turn are compelled to "scarify" Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler. Look at today's headlines and you can see just how enduring the story is. This is good history and good storytelling. I lean a whole lot closer to Kirkus' review than PW's: "Impeccable plotting . . . heroes worth rooting for . . . A debut of rare accomplishment."