Kiss of the Devil's Breath (A Seedy Tale from the Files of Frank Mango)

Product Description Here’s the scoop. Once there was Marlow, now there’s Mango, Frank Mango, a new detective doing his job in a very old fashioned way, an unlikely hero in an age of computers, gadgets, and gizmos. Two dead bodies have been discarded along the Sunset Strip, both aspiring actors, women of talent and ambition in a town renown for eating you up and spitting you out. Who really cares about these nobodies? Mums the word—with the Academy Awards just days off, the powers that be are determined to sweep the dead under the red carpet at least until Oscar can take his gratuitous bow. There are, however, wrinkles in this finely crafted plan of deception, most notably the disappearance of yet another woman, a killer whose sniper rifle is trained on the fabled red carpet, and a throwback detective who doesn’t like to get pushed around. "Lawrence Kelter is an exciting new novelist, who reminds me of an early Robert Ludlum," -Nelson DeMille Review "Lawrence Kelter is an exciting new novelist, who reminds me of an early Robert Ludlum."-Nelson DeMille From the Author KISS OF THE DEVIL'S BREATH LAWRENCE KELTER, F Street Books, New York, New York, $13.95, paperback (242p) ISBN-10: 1-4663-5461-5, ISBN-13: 978-1466-354616   "Kiss of the Devil's Breath" opens on Downtown L.A. and the world famous Kodak Theater. The Academy Award ceremony is in full swing; the crème de la crème of Hollywood's elite out on the fabled red carpet for their walk of fame. Just across the boulevard, high atop an industrial building, a determined sniper waits, his mind and his focus inexorably trained on his victim. Who is he planning to kill?   The requisite hero for a hardboiled mystery is a bulldog detective like Sam Spade or Mike Hammer, protagonists who, like their names, are as tough as nails. Enter Private Detective Frank Mango. Don't be fooled--though his name does not conjure up images of metal hitting stone, he is a genuine tough guy in every sense of the word, and has the inappropriate bad boy delivery of a standup comic.   Like most L.A. gumshoe types, Mango keeps his own emotions well concealed. His insecurities about his weight, appearance, and lack of financial success, weigh on him but never get in the way of his investigation. He is a fiercely committed advocate who through his dogged determinedness strives steadfast to uncover clues and rescue the innocent. His efforts are assisted by an ensemble group of quirky characters, each with their own unique contribution to offer.   Mango is hired to find a missing actor, a woman he fears may be the next victim of the Sunset Murderer, a fiend who has already discarded two bodies along the Sunset Strip clad in calico dresses.  Mango follows his gut instinct in an unconventional direction that brings him to the epicenter of the murder investigation, the sniper's plan, and the discovery of an obscure street drug being used to manipulate the unwilling.   I hope you will find "Kiss of the Devil's Breath" compelling and welcome a fresh voice to the hardboiled genre. Frank and I guarantee the arcane plot will keep you guessing until the end. LK About the Author A resident New Yorker, Kelter often uses Manhattan and Long Island as backdrops for his stories. He has written three novels featuring street savvy NYPD Detective Stephanie Chalice: DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, RANSOM BEACH, and THE BRAIN VAULT. BookWire Review wrote of the character Stephanie Chalice, "her acerbic repartee is like an arsenal of nuclear missiles." Early in his writing career he received support from bestselling novelist, Nelson DeMille, who reviewed his work and actually put pencil to paper to assist in the editing of the first novel. DeMille said, "Lawrence Kelter is an exciting new novelist who reminds me of an early Robert Ludlum." His novels are quickly paced and routinely feature a twist ending. For more information please visit the author at: lawrencekelter.com.