Lisa Moore, Caught (Anansi, 2013)

Moore keeps being considered for major prizes, but remains the bridesmaid, so to speak.  I am not sure why, as her narratives are strong and her writing is exuberant yet remarkably precise and filled with powerful images.  Caught is the story of David Slaney, an attractive young convicted drug trafficker who escapes from prison determined to try yet again to score the big bucks.  A rollicking story that crosses Canada and takes the reader into the Columbian jungle, the pulsing energy masks a sense of inevitable failure.  Despite his bad motives, David is a winning character whose youthful invincibility is matched only by bad choices that ruin him.