[Jack LeVine 01] • The Big Kiss-Off of 1944

The tense hustle of wartime New York provides the background for some tough investigation as the indomitable gumshoe Jack LeVine takes on a nasty case involving a chorus girl, blackmail, several scattered corpses, presidential politics, and some dirty business that could change the course of the war.

"Bergman, who knows the private-eye genre...has created his own specimen named Jack LeVine....He is tough, wisecracking, lonely, determined, smart as the next man - the exemplar of the species." -The New York Times Book Review

"It is without doubt the nearest thing to genuine Chandler I've ever come across....Tough, witty - very witty - and a beautiful eye for period detail, which makes it a smashing read." -Jack Higgins

"A fine piece of invention, written with great energy and humanity and style." -Ross Macdonald