Flight In February Review

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(More customer reviews)Flight in Febrary is not Philip Kraske's first book but it ranks definitely among his best efforts. Having read some of his manuscripts over the past quarter century (he started young!), I would say Flight in February demonstrates the maturity of a diligent, first-class wordsmith. This struck me when I got to Chapter Five and heard how "the rusty caster giggled and heckled" at poor Reilly, whose only response to his gray officious surroundings is a sneer and a Playboy! The book abounds with these tremendous details, every word chosen with care but served up as seemingly effortless writing. Canadian author John Marlin once said "to be a good novelist you have to love people." Kraske shows genuine affection for his characters. I worked in the Midwest as a police reporter so the author's depiction of law enforcement officials in these environs rang true. The dialogue drives the story along with precision and, at times, humor and wit. These are truly believable characters.
I won't compare Philip Kraske to Jonathan Franzen or Paul Auster, but I am sure others will, given the breadth and ambition of this work. Sue Grafton's punchy prose actually came to mind in some passages of Flight.
Just one question haunts me. Why February in Minnesota? I am far from that frozen wasteland now but I still recall it as being pretty darn chilly! Although the author assures us in the final credits (his acknowledgements, p 433 in this first edition) this work is not going to inspire more prison breaks, he sure made me wonder at the things humans can get up to, even in the dead of winter.
The best recommendation I could give Flight in February is that it is a great read. As another reviewer has stated, once you are caught up in this thriller, you won't be able to put it down.


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Did drug-trafficker Marcus Strenk escape from Minnesota's maximum-security prison during a blizzard-or die trying? Deputy Marshal Henry Scott thinks, rightly, that Strenk actually found a way past all the most modern security devices known to man and made it to freedom. But the search Scott puts into gear is quickly spiked by Alec Barkley, the very FBI agent that put Strenk in jail-spiked, that is, until Strenk's cheery note from outside arrives at the prison and Barkley puts every available agent on the manhunt. Meanwhile, Henry Scott examines Barkley's espionage operation against Strenk's Mexican connections, and ends up stepping through the looking glass.Set against the pewter gray of a Minnesota winter, Flight in February is peopled by the odd and the driven, bumpkins and bitches, the lonely and the striving. It is a tour of humanity and a twisting, scribbling ribbon of plot.

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