[Burke 02] • Strega

### From Library Journal

Streetwise and otherwise smart ex-con Burke narrates this second journey ( Flood ) through New York's garish underworld. The tough, unlicensed private investigator and his memorable cohorts work outside the law, but physically hurt only the true scum: street and subway punks, dope dealers and child abusers. With the help of Max the Silent (deaf-mute Chinese muscle), Michelle (fabulous-looking pre-transsexual hooker), Mole (thick-glassed demolition genius), Immaculata (sympathetic Vietnamese psychotherapist), and Pansy (malevolent Italian guard dog), Burke searches for a kiddie porn picture that will salvage the sanity of a cherubic six-year-old boy. This story fairly crackles with intensity, and the TV/p.i.-type narrator fuels the excitement with wry asides, gangster-wary movements, and cautious self-assurances. Great reading. Rex E. Klett, Anson Cty. Lib., Wadesboro, N.C.

Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

### Pressestimmen

"So hard-boiled that it makes Mike Hammer and Sam Spade look like running yolks." —*Chicago Sun-Times*

"An absolute stunner, the toughest crime novel, and one of the most realistic, any American writer has produced." —*The Cleveland Plain Dealer*

"It's wonderful. The words leap off the page. The plot is fresh. The principal character is original. The style is as clean as a haiku." —*The Washington Post Book World*

"A bizarre, fast-paced tour of the criminal psyche.... Has a grim authenticity." —*The Philadelphia Inquirer*

*From the Trade Paperback edition.*