From Publishers Weekly

At the onset of Vachss's fourth street-smart novel featuring unlicensed New York private eye Burke, word is out that the ex-con PI has become a gun-for-hire. Besides coping with this crazy rumor, Burke contends with two figures from his youth who suddenly turn up. One of them, Candy, now a miniskirted call girl fond of whips and leashes, wants Burke to rescue her teenaged daughter from a cult in Brooklyn; the other, Wesley, an Uzi-toting hit man, already has the cult's leader, Train, in his sights. When Burke learns that the cult safehouse is a baby-breeding operation, vigilante-style justice ensues. Burke's turf--the sleazy underbelly of New York, a world of street kids, drug pushers, mafiosi and crooked lawyers--springs to life in cinematic scenes. Fans of Vachss's previous hard-core crime fiction ( Flood ; Bluebelle ) will find familiar characters, among them Michelle, the transsexual hooker; Max the Silent, a mute Tibetan martial arts strongman; and electronics whiz Mole, who lives in a bunker under a Bronx junkyard. 40,000 first printing.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The characters and events are as sharply defined as if they were etched in steel. The prose is short and choppy, like the ticking of a time bomb about to explode." —Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Torrid, gritty, frightening, compelling." —The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Burke fills a void.... With his soiled white hat, this Lone Ranger...asks difficult questions while shining light into the darkest recesses." —Chicago Tribune

"There's no way to put a [Vachss book] down once you've begun.... The plot hooks are engaging and the one-liners pierce like bullets." —Detroit Free Press