Safe Harbour

by Eugene Izzi

Before his strange death in 1997 (his body was found hanging outside his Chicago office), Eugene Izzi wrote some of the best crime fiction in recent memory. His hard-edged books like A Matter of Honor and The Criminalist are told from the criminal's point of view.Safe Harbor was first published in England in 1995, when Izzi was having trouble finding an American outlet. It's a familiar the mobster who becomes an informer for the best of reasons (in this case to protect his child) and then enters a witness protection program and goes on to lead a blameless life. Mark Torrence (called Tommy Torelli in his criminal days) is threatened in his new and secret life by a ghost from the past--a vengeful hit man named James Bracken. This vicious and depraved killer has his own very good and perversely logical reasons for hunting down Torrence.What gives the book new life and lots of energy is the way Izzi develops his characters using small strokes of reality. Even the incredibly obnoxious next-door neighbor who accidentally leaks Torrence's true identity is made human because we get to peek into his daily life.Not having any more new books by Izzi to look forward to is a great loss, but the late arrival of Safe Harbor makes it a bit more bearable.--Dick Adler

378 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1995

About the author

Eugene Izzi was born on March 23, 1953 in Hegewisch, a neighborhood in southwest Chicago.

His first novel, The Take, was published in 1987. He went on to publish 18 books. His thrillers often featured organized crime and street characters he remembered from his childhood.

After the publication of Tribal Secrets, he had a dispute with his publisher, and could not publish any books under his name for three years. During this time he published three novels under the pseudonym Nick Gaitano.

On December 7, 1996 he was found hanging outside his Michigan Avenue office. His death was declared a suicide, but many found his death suspicious.

Reviews

[Glen U · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely good crime novel. Eugene Izzi was the most underrated writer of crime fiction during the 1990's, in my opinion. His writing has the unique quality of not only being a fine crime drama written in a more literary style, than most of the best-sellers, it also has a complex character development style that fully immerses the reader in the story. It makes for a longer read but it also gives his novels a much more fulfilling feel for the audience. Like Lee Childs, his protagonists are usually anti-heroes, but they are realistic, in that they are not perfect. Another great effort from Izzi and a very good read.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mob snitch relocated from New York to Chicago before he left the witness protection program. Collateral damage from his testimony leads to his pursuit by a hitman extraordinaire years later. Good hard-boiled crime fiction from Izzi, which sat on my shelves way too long. So long, that I had forgotten Izzi's career ended when he was found dead, hanging from the window of his 14th floor office on Michigan Avenue, wearing a bullet proof vest, carrying brass knuckles, mace and a CD of an unfinished manuscript. Stranger than fiction.