Adirondack

Adirondack is an adventure suspense tale of murder and survival in the mountains of upstate New York. Most of the action occurs near the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks- a land beautiful and terrifying, a wild place that can bring out the best and the worst in people; darkly intimidating and dangerous at times, yet strangely electrifying and inspiring. It is a primeval land that asks nothing of you but will take all that you have, and in return will give you hope and love of life and strength of spirit.

A ten year old lad and a young woman flee for their lives, unprepared, as it were, for survival in the wilderness and with little more than their wits to guide them. All the while, they are being pursued by a psychotic killer and his partner, both of whom are determined to kill them because they know too much about their criminal plans. The boy's father and the young lady's former boyfriend, a cop from Allentown, Pennsylvania, join the Kentville Police on a dangerous search in the northern woods. The story weaves together an unlikely collection of characters into a spellbinding chase through the mountains, with episodes of high risk rock-climbing, angry and deadly confrontations, and horrifying deaths for some of the searchers.

The novel begins with the early years of two hoodlum brothers in 1940's Brooklyn, and eventually has them forming a dangerous alliance with a former cellmate, a vicious and cold-blooded killer with no compunctions for killing. The time then shifts to the late 1950's when the old alliance reforms. The plot involves a diamond smuggling deal which was to be consummated in a rendezvous at an upstate New York lake. The plan falls apart when a series of unexpected events occur, including the kidnapping of a young lad from Ithaca, who overhears the brothers talking, and the subsequent murder of five innocent townspeople by the brothers' psychotic partner. The disillusioned girlfriend of one of the kidnappers escapes with the lad into a harrowing adventure in the Adirondack mountains, where death may be imminent and survival is a matter of will to live.

It is a coming of age story whereby the boy changes from a lad of low self-esteem to one inspired to heroic deeds. It is also a story which shows how the wilderness changes people; where a frightened and self-serving young woman becomes compassionate and courageous in the presence of constant danger; where the young boy's father, searching for his son, changes from a stuffy white-collar gentleman to a competent mountain climber and a wilderness survivor; and finally, where a psychotic ex-con becomes motivated by a crazed and sadistic need to hunt and kill the boy and his lady companion.

In writing Adirondack, I have drawn upon my hiking and climbing experiences in the Adirondack mountains. I've been inspired by the vastness of these mountains, the superb majesty of the great peaks, the deep gorges, immense forests, and numerous lakes. It is a land I hope will remain forever wild.

Hal Lazar, an avid hiker and mountain climber, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and currently resides in New Jersey. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Brooklyn College and his Masters degree at Montclair State University.

His works include an historical fiction novel entitled Jockey Hollow, an adventure suspense novel entitled Adirondack, and several short stories.