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It's a beautiful Thanksgiving morning in New York City. Perfect day for a parade, and Fritz Malone just happens to have drifted up Central Park West to take a look at the floats. Across the crowd-filled street he sees a gunman on a low wall, taking aim with a shiny black Beretta. Seconds later, the air is filled with bullets and blood.
Fritz isn't one to stand around and watch. A child of Hell's Kitchen and the bastard son of a beloved former police commissioner, Fritz is all too familiar with the city's rougher side. As the gunman flees into the park, Fritz runs after him. What he doesn't know is that he is also running into one of the most shocking and treacherous episodes of his life.
Though Fritz assumed that chasing down bad guys is perfectly legal, the cops hustle him from the scene and deliver him to the office of the current commissioner, who informs Fritz that someone dubbed "Nightmare" has been taunting the city's leaders for weeks, warning of an imminent attack on the citizenry. What's worse, Nightmare has already let the officials know that the parade gunman was a mere foot soldier and that there's more carnage to come unless the city meets his impossible demands. The pols don't dare share this information with anyone --- not even the NYPD. What they need for this job is an outside man. And in Fritz they think they've got one.
Racing against the tightest of clocks, Fritz finds himself confounded by Nightmare's multiple masks and messengers. The killer is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. But as Fritz's frantic investigation takes him from a convent in the Bronx to a hookers' haven in central Brooklyn, the story behind the story --- complete with wicked secrets on both sides of the law --- begins to emerge. As Fritz zeroes in on the terrible, gruesome truth, the killer retaliates by making things personal, forcing Fritz to grapple with his deepest fear: sometimes nightmares really do come true.
In his brilliantly paced and stunningly original debut, Richard Hawke delivers a tale of flawed and unforgettable people operating at the ends of their ropes. It's literary suspense that doesn't let go until the last page.
© Copyright 2008 by Random House.
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Critical Praise
"From first line to last, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL moves with a rare combination of intrigue and intensity. Its engine runs on high octane adrenalin. Richard Hawke delivers a winner."
"...hugely enjoyable debut...a loaded backstory, compelling minor characters and clever, literate writing promise great things ahead for Hawke... Note to Spenser: best stay in Boston --- Fritz has got the Big Apple covered."
--- Publishers Weekly
"Hawke explores the moral high and low ground...in a deftly paced debut that crackles and pops from page one. In a genre populated with predictable PI's, Fritz Malone is a fresh, engaging blend of laconic detective and likable guy."
--- Booklist (starred review)
"Suspense fans till be talking about SPEAK OF THE DEVIL and its memorable hero. In this gritty and surprising novel, Richard Hawke grabs you on page 1 and never lets go."
--- Harlan Coben
"SPEAK OF THE DEVIL has everything --- breakneck pace, a sharp eye for characters both good and not-so-good, and, best of all, a gripping story. The novel is richly detailed, intelligent, and effortlessly entertaining."
--- T. Jefferson Parker
"A smart, wry mystery with a hero who is the perfect balance of noir PI and decent guy. Richard Hawke has done a first-rate job of creating characters and re-creating New York."
--- Susan Issacs
"SPEAK OF THE DEVIL will be on everyone's short list for mystery of the year."
--- the indefatigable Harriet Klausner
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