Cat Chaser is a 1982 thriller novel written by Elmore Leonard.
George "Cat Chaser" Moran is an ex-Marine who served in the Dominican Republic intervention, who now owns a moderately successful Florida hotel. Moran, a former upper-class socialite, runs into his old acquaintance Mary de Boya and starts an affair with her. Unfortunately for him, Mary's husband Andres is a former Dominican death squad leader with mob ties... and if word gets out, he'll be none too happy with either of them...
List of tropes applying to the novel:
- Aborted Arc: A major plot in the first half of the book is Moran searching for Luci Palma, a revolutionary sniper who had captured him and subsequently saved his life. The plot is abandoned after he leaves the Dominican Republic, although it plays a role in Rafi's attempt to scam him.
- Affably Evil:
- Nolen Tyner is an unapologetic scumbag, but he's quite friendly and gets along well with Moran.
- Rafi Amado, though a scam artist such as himself needs to be charming. Still, he's friendly and hard-working enough that Moran pities him for his ineptitude.
- Alliterative Name: Corky Corcovado, one of Andres's Co-Dragons.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Mary was attracted to Andres because of his cold, brooding demeanor. Unfortunately, she found out he wasn't hiding any sort of soft side beneath it; he's just bad all the way through.
- Anti-Villain: Nolen Tyner. He's greedy and sleazy, but he genuinely cares about Moran and does his best to avoid him getting hurt in his scheme to rob Andres.
- Awful Wedded Life: Andres and Mary's marriage is joyless due to Andres' cold and stoic personality. Not a moment goes by where he isn't passive-aggressively criticizing her, and his internal narration makes it clear he hates her even before he starts suspecting her of having an affair.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Moran is pretty accepting of a lot of his guests' idiosyncrasies and poor behavior, but as Mario Prado learns being threatened is something he won't ever tolerate.Moran: Mario, there's a certain amount of shit you have to put up with in this business, but you just went offer the limit. You want, I'll give you the rest of your money back. But if I do I'll probably pick you up and throw you into the swimming pool, and with all those fucking chains you got on you'll probably sink to the bottom and drown. But it's up to you. Do you want your money back?
- Bolivian Army Ending: The book ends with the cops arriving at the West Palms Motel immediately after Moran shoots an unarmed Jiggs dead in cold blood.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Andres specialized in this as head of Trujillo's secret police. Nolen and Rafi recall he frequently brutally mutilated anyone who found themselves in his custody and fed them to the sharks after he was done with them.Andres: The trick when you question someone is to never ask them a question.
Jiggs: You don't ask 'em anything?
Andres: No, never. You take the person's clothes off. Always, you do this, strip the person naked, and sometimes that's enough. Or you subject the person to an unpleasant experience, increasing this gradually. The person wants to tell you something, but you still don't ask him. He pleas with you, he begins to say things, to also the questions himself, yes, and then answer them, he's so anxious to see you if you'll stop the unpleasantness. - Co-Dragons: Corky and Jiggs both serve as Andres' right-hand men. Jiggs also serves as The Starscream, secretly plotting to rob his boss blind.
- Continuity Nod: Marshall Sisco, Karen Sisco's father, is Nolen Tyner's boss.
- Crazy Jealous Guy:
- Andres is very possessive of Mary, and reacts harshly at the mere suspicion she's having an affair.
- Mario Prado threatens Moran on the mere suspicion he flitted with his girlfriend.
- The Dreaded: Andres was and still is widely feared throughout the Dominican Republic for his reputation for torture. Rafi recalls that local parents used him as a boogeyman to keep their children in line.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Nolen finds Jiggs' racist complaints to be utterly hilarious.
- Eviler than Thou: Jiggs successfully manipulates Andres into going to an isolated house and murders him there.
- Faux Affably Evil:
- Jiggs Scully is a friendly, jovial guy, but his casual racism and ruthlessness offsets it. He even casually jokes with George while threatening to kill him.
- Andres is quite formal, but it barely masks how much of a vicious killer he is.
- Forced to Watch: Andres forces Moran to watch him drown Rafi to show he means business.
- Former Regime Personnel: Andres was a member of Rafael Castillo's regime and the head of his secret police before fleeing to America.
- Friendly Enemy:
- Moran and Luci Palma, an enemy sniper who took him captive, developed a rapport and their attempts to kill each other became almost a game. In the present, Moran searches for Luci to see how she's doing.
- Double Subverted by Moran and Rafi. Rafi claims to have been a man he shot during the intervention, but he quickly turns out to be just a scam artist. However, Moran pities him and the two wind up becoming civil even after Moran reveals he's onto him.
- Good Is Not Soft: Moran is a nice guy, but he refuses to tolerate threats and will deck anyone who tries to.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Jimmy Cap, Scully's boss and Andres's mob partner, never appears but his shadow hangs over the book.
- Groin Attack: One of the punishments Andres would dole out was to castrate his male victims. Rafi recalls he did so to his uncle.
- Heel–Face Turn: Nolen turns on Jiggs after it becomes clear he'll kill Moran and Mary.
- Hypocrite: Andres had a mistress that wound up breaking up a prior marriage, but he's enraged by the idea Mary may be having an affair.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Rafi is clearly out of his depth and used as a pawn by stronger personalities. The main reason Moran lets Rafi's scam go on for so long is because he feels sorry for how bad he is at it.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Mary decided to marry Andres because she assumed there was a soft side underneath his cold personality, unaware of his past as a war criminal. It turns out he was just as bad as he seemed.Mary: I thought, well, assuming there's a person under that cold, formal exterior, why don't I try to bring him out?
Moran: How'd you do?
Mary: Well, the only thing I can figure out, he puts on the front so no one will know what an asshole he really is. - Lawman Gone Bad: Jiggs Scully was an NYPD officer before becoming an enforcer for the mob.
- Nice Guy: Moran is friendly, laid-back, and tolerates quite a lot from Tyner and Rafi. He's no pushover, however, and won't tolerate threats.
- Noodle Incident: It's never mentioned how Rafi got the knife wound he uses to pass off as a former revolutionary.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Jiggs Scully is a massive racist who repeatedly rants about how much he hates working for Latinos and Italians. He also casually uses racial slurs for black people.
- Private Detective: Nolen is a private detective hired by Andres to watch after Mary. He sticks around after his assignment ends in a hare-brained scheme to scam Andres.
- Protagonist Title: The book is named after Moran's nickname, derived from the callsign of his platoon.
- Sacrificial Lion: Rafi's murder establishes just how ruthless Andres really is, and how far he'll go if he's crossed.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Nolen has a very high opinion of himself and considers himself a criminal mastermind, when in reality he's simply a failed actor and a halfway decent private investigator.
- Spotting the Thread: Moran figures out Nolen Tyner is hiding something when he notes that Tyner's listed address is an office building. He also catches on to Rafi's scam because he was left-handed, when the man he had shot was right-handed.
- The Starscream: Jiggs Scully acts loyal to Andres, but secretly conspires to ron him behind his back.
- Torture Technician: Andres' job was to lead the torture of any enemies of Trujillo's regime. He spent most of his time there leading the mutilation and torture of anyone in his custody before throwing them to the sharks.
- Unwitting Pawn: Moran points out to Tyner and Rafi that Jiggs is using them as pawns, and even if he does rob Andres he has no intentions of cutting them in on it. They don't listen.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Tyner and Jiggs let Andres murder Rafi the second he's outlived his.
