Ask A Dead Man
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
"A book full of sex and violence, fueled with enough treachery and paranoia to light up a small city."—Chicago Tribune
“Bury the past,” he said, “or it will always be there to haunt you.” So says KC McClory’s husband, Frankie, before his cold-blooded murder draws her into a plan for revenge by assassinating one of the world’s great leaders. The past quickly becomes the present and takes KC from the strife-torn back alleys of Falls Road in Northern Ireland to the post streets of Pasadena, CA, where she grew up among the wealthy and where vengeance will be carried out in the shadow of the annual Rose Bowl. As simple as that, but—Not simple at all. “The Plowman who gunned down Frankie is also out to kill KC.
QUOTE/UNQUOTE
"A novel that not only stands alone but stands tall. Writing with considerable invention, grace and energy, the author (tells) an intricate and emotionally potent tale of murder and double-cross…This is a dense, dark, beautifully wrought tale of love and betrayal, sin and retribution, offering serious suspense, terrific twists and full-blooded characters. Levinson may not have an Irish name but he carries the soul of the Irish poets in his pen and in his heart--only a dead man wouldn't relish this read."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Genuinely exciting. . .It sinks its narrative claws into our skin and drags us along on what proves to be an exhilarating ride. . ."
—Booklist
"Buckets of blood are filled and much happens. . ."—Kirkus Reviews
"A solid espionage police procedural thriller. . .The story line is action-packed"—The Book Review
"Robert S. Levinson writes a great read."—Nelson DeMille
"From Belfast to L.A., the pace never slows. IRA assassins mix it up with government agents and the LAPD in a story that Hollywood should grab at once."—Joseph Wambaugh
"Levinson's story structure, eye for detail, flavorsome style, and knack for Hitchcockian suspense set pieces cannot be denied."—Jon L. Breen
"Talk about a story that doesn't quit until the very last page. Wow! The plotting is incredible, the shifting POVs dazzling, the humor is delicious, the mastery of the Irish lilt flawless, and the sheer joy in the act of writing etched on every page...A rollercoaster of a read."—Jerry Ludwig
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Best known as a series author (the well-received Neil Gulliver and Steve Marriner mysteries: Hot Paint, etc.), Levinson now spins a novel that not only stands alone but stands tall. Writing with considerable invention, grace and energy, the author, who's a national director at-large of Mystery Writers of America, tells an intricate and emotionally potent tale of murder and doublecross. His antiheroine here is one KC McClory, widow of Frankie McClory, a slain IRA honcho, who's asked by her dead husband's malevolent brother to smuggle guns into America to give to the Plowman, an IRA assassin who aims to kill a world leader in exchange for moneys flowing to the IRA; in the U.S., KC is to stay at the Pasadena home of Judge Osborne and his family, who raised her. Credible but terrible complications ensue almost at once. KC, we learn, is in fact an agent of TRIAD, a U.S. counterterrorism operation, but TRIAD no longer trusts her; some of the novel's tension arises from KC's juggling the wishes of the IRA and TRIAD. More arises when an assassin disguised as a priest picks her up on the train to Pasadena and tries to kill her his fatal mistake; and when the investigating cop in the homicide turns out to be Peter Osborne, the Judge's son and KC's old flame, the complications grow byzantine, eventually putting KC and those she loves at great risk. This is a dense, dark, beautifully wrought tale of love and betrayal, sin and retribution, offering serious suspense, terrific twists and full-blooded characters. Levinson may not have an Irish name but he carries the soul of the Irish poets in his pen and in his heart only a dead man wouldn't relish this read.
