About the book, from the publisher:
Caught unjustly in a Three Strikes law that sends him to prison for life, Nate Larson negotiates with prosecutors for an early release in exchange for testifying against his brother in an upcoming trial. As part of the deal, he demands custody of his fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Grace, whom he hardly knows and who’s survived a string of disastrous foster homes.Visit Leonard Rosen's website.
Nate studied stage magic in prison. He’s good, and despite her wariness Grace joins him as his apprentice for a touring magic show. Nate’s actual plan: to spend a few pleasant months with the child then run alone to Canada in order to derail his brother’s trial.
Despite all odds, the old man and the child come to love and depend on each other.
Facing certain violence unless he runs (his brother’s tormentors want him gone), distraught at the prospect of abandoning his granddaughter, Nate must thread a dangerous needle. And Grace, learning to perform some magic herself, must grow up in a hurry if she’s to save the only person she’s ever trusted.
A novel for young and old, The Kortelisy Escape is a suspenseful coming-of-age story narrated in alternating chapters by Grace and Nate Larson. It’s a story of unlikely love. And it’s a story of explorations: of wonder, loyalty, and the grip of the past on our present and future happiness.
--Marshal Zeringue