Owen's beautiful wife Kate has an interesting history. After college in Michigan, she joined the Peace Corps to end a two and a half year relationship with Jack Curran. While in Guatemala Kate shot two policemen who raped her and then called Jack back in the States to help her leave the country.

As Kate mourns Owen's death, Jack is released from prison where he is doing time for armed robbery in Arizona and returns to Detroit. Jack hooks up with Teddy Hicks (an ex-race car driver who severely injured Owen and was banned from racing) and DeJuan with whom he robbed an upscale market of $257,000 but never recovered the money. Together with Teddy's girlfriend Celeste, they plan on kidnapping Kate’s son Luke after they discover that Kate has inherited $20 million.

Luke, who is going to school drunk and getting into fights as well as contemplating suicide, leaves home one day and heads to the cabin on Lake Michigan where finally the plot begins to reveal itself. Unfortunately by then, the book is more than half over.....

In addition to its extreme slow pace, Quiver contains quite a bit of backstory that is somewhat difficult to follow and which could have benefitted from chapter titles which include the date and place such as Guatemala, 1980. The pace did pick up after the kidnapping but the ending contained no surprises.

Perhaps for his next novel, Peter Leonard should ask for a few tips from his father, Elmore Leonard, a recipient of the Mystery Writers’ Grand Master award.

--Jerry Solot