Who are we? And why do we do what we do? Surely, these are the most fundamental questions that can be asked of humanity and its nature, yet, odds are many, many years will pass before universal answers are found for them. Who we are as individuals may be the product of our genetics, our parents, our friends, our environments, our whims, or a combination of all or some of these, but we can't know for certain. And until we do know for certain, we cannot know why we succumb to foolishness, why we are ensnared by temptation, or why we repeat the same, stupid actions over and over until we've squandered what may be the only life we have. Out of Sight may be, in the grand tradition of Mr. Leonard, a fun, funny and subversive crime romp, but in its exploration of these fundamental questions, it advances itself from the mediocrity of crime fiction's back benches into the meritorious front row of inquisitive literature.
Blessed with memorable beauty and equipped with her father's moral compass, life for Karen Sisco, a deputy U.S. Marshal stationed in sunny Florida, ought to be fairly effortless. Her love life, however -- her last boyfriend turned out to be a bank robber --, suggests that, deep down, not all is well with the blond-haired honey with the shotgun on her hip. This thirst for danger is deeply indulged when Karen interrupts a prison breakout but, instead, winds up locked in the trunk of a getaway car with a dangerous convict snuggled up behind her. This is Jack Foley, a man who has done three sizeable stretches of time for bank robbery. It's no wonder then that he's eager to escape. But when Karen interferes with his flight, she stirs up emotions in him, feelings that stretch beyond the understandable anger one would feel for someone who ruined his plans. As they part ways and Foley latches on to the prospect of a job in Detroit that might get him the cash he needs to make a real getaway, Karen doggedly pursues him, both of them remembering their interlude together in the trunk and wondering if, in the brief window of time they have left to them, if there might be room for something that transcends the restrictions placed upon them by the roles they've chosen to play.
Out of Sight entertains the reader with an assortment of quirky, Leonardian characters who weave in and out of perils, some of which are of their making, some of which are completely beyond their control. But while the novel is well-served by a solid plot and suitable actors to fill fairly predictable roles, it is the core relationship shared by Foley and Sisco, criminal and woman of the law, which gives this piece its punch. In lesser hands, this would be nothing more than corny trash, the officer of the law tempted over to the dark side by the archetypical, irresistible bad boy, but Mr. Leonard avoids such cliches by ensuring that their attraction is equal and mutual. More over, they are cognizant of the fact that what they have is limited by time and circumstance, that it is a connection that must exist outside of the lives they've chosen for themselves, that it cannot possibly endure. They are two mature adults reaching across their choices, their histories and their self-interests to unite in common attraction, a need that supersedes their life paths.
In this, Mr. Leonard has done something special. He's understood that, being that we are nothing more than the culmination of a million choices across our years on this planet, it is possible to set aside, for a little while, who we are and what we've done. We are not owned by our jobs, our parents, or our chosen destinies. We can just be human beings, creatures capable of momentarily shrugging off their identities.Mr. Leonard grasps this somewhat scary notion and actualizes it in a delightfully subtle and praiseworthy manner.
This is quality and thoughtful work, a rare philosophical gem in the crime fiction arena. (4/5 Stars)
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