HUNTED

A man finds himself on the wrong side of an unhinged thief in this thriller by the author of Superheat (2012).

In 1970, Randy Capra is an unemployed chemical engineer from Ohio. With the Vietnam War slowing down, he’s been laid off by Numex Chemicals. He and his girlfriend, Sally Sohlar, have moved to San Francisco to start their lives over. At a New Year's Eve party, Randy encounters a friend from Kent State University named “Cousin” Stoner. Through Stoner, Randy meets Uncle Buzz and Casimir “Captain Courageous” Kapowski, who invite him to make “a couple of extra bucks.” The job, about which Randy knows little, is to steal a new Porsche 911 from a dealership. The theft goes smoothly, but when Captain Courageous is later arrested, he assumes Randy ratted him out to the police. Cap has zero tolerance for snitches and plans to eliminate Randy as soon as he makes bail. Meanwhile, Sally and Randy's relationship has deteriorated because only she makes honest, consistent money. Luckily, Randy meets Monique Minet on Pacifica Beach. Her marriage is falling apart, and she takes to Randy immediately. When Randy decides to hop the Capetown Queen passenger ship to Australia, Monique, who has become romantically obsessed with him—and the vengeful Captain Courageous—are in pursuit. Wood’s latest thriller begins strongly as a transporting glimpse into President Richard Nixon's reign: “Economics had trumped peace and love.” California’s beauty steps onstage, as when “the distant Caliente Mountains looked like pink teeth biting into a deep blue sky.” Once Wood’s overseas chase starts, however, drab travel logistics keep the narrative from truly revving up (“She began punching numbers into a mechanical calculator, which clacked each time she pulled the handle”). The aptly named Randy likewise becomes distracting, with women constantly throwing themselves at him. Cap’s criminal origins as a bullied child are well wrought, and San Francisco street races feel like cuts from the action film Bullitt (1968), but Wood’s protagonist isn’t interesting enough to sustain interest for as long as the plot requires.

Numerous exotic locales can’t bring heat to this long-simmering thriller.