Leading Lady

Book:	Leading Lady
Author:	Heywood Gould
Honors:	2008 Hammett nominee Score: 6.58
Genres:	Mystery/Suspense books
Publisher:	Five Star

On a gray winter’s day in New York, a motley group of strangers are thrust together. The cast of characters includes: an escaped convict, an “exotic” dancer, a coked-up Mafia killer, a shady Russian billionaire, a super agent on a secret mission, a wealthy woman hiding a guilty past, a three-fingered Albanian crook who hopes he’ll make it through the day, and a decrepit wiseguy who just wants to finish his Cream of Wheat.

Their lives collide when high-class burglar Jerry Lang breaks out of jail intent on avenging the murder of Gloria Pavlich, his partner and “leading lady.” Two years before, they had returned from stealing a rare painting to find the cops waiting. In the ensuing struggle, Lang shot a detective. And Gloria disappeared, never to be heard from again.

Lang’s first stop is the Casbah, where he meets a “leading-lady-for-a-day” and they embark on a twisting, turning journey through New York’s underworld with a surprise around every corner.

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