The Accomplice — Darryl Ponicsan

In this gripping novel, Beef Buddusky, who wanted no more than a one-day job when he entered the Salvation Army in Colorado Springs, finds himself swept up by an obsessive mother with a diabolical plot. Rootless and homesick for a family, he is manipulated into joining what is clearly a deranged plan hatched by the first person in his wanderings to treat him kindly. The time comes when he is unwilling to go further, yet not able to step all the way back. Ginny Wynn, thwarted in her dreams of graceful living, has piled all her twisted emotions on the back of Gordie, her policeman son, who has never found a way to stand up to her. He asserts his manhood and independence by marrying a woman his mother would never approve of, and then tries to keep it secret. Ginny is determined that she will be the only woman in Gordie s life, at whatever cost. The end of the battle for the heart and soul of Ginny s son is only the beginning for Beef, who must find a space to live in between the legal and moral definitions of the word, Accomplice. The portrait of this inarticulate, lonely man making his way toward a personal redemption is both moving and memorable.