VIOLENT LOVE

"Jerry Oster's portrait of life as a New York City policeman shows it's not a job anyone would want. Oster doesn't write your normal police procedural. He writes of how easily you can be frustrated and how confused you can become if you're a police officer and happen to bother being a human being." -The Manhattan Kansas Mercury

When the torso of a wealthy Manhattan woman is found in the Harlem River there are indications that a police officer is involved. Joe Cullen, a sergeant in the New York City Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit, who is tasked with investigating officers who might have been involved in criminal acts is assigned the case. And Cullen-who has multiple problems of his own with his former-wife, kids he sees all too infrequently and gifted, whip-smart writer girlfriend-finds himself embroiled in his most explosive and dangerous investigation, one that will soon involve involve multiple murders.

"In this modern version of the classic mystery complete with clues, suspects, and a number of murders, Cullen tries to separate fact from nonessentials to come up with whodunit and why. Here his presentation of the rich and glitzy is unforgettably vivid. The story ... is captivating and carries quite a shocker of an ending." -Library Journal

Is the dismembering of glamorous Karen Justice (the first of eleven K`s to die), and the long-ago disappearance of a crooked cop, Blond Tommy Muldoon, the work of the dangerous, black-widow and photographer Diana Romero-who had taken up with Blond Tommy before Rae vanished? Joe Cullen begins to wonder when he sees Diana offering conjugal solace to Karen's grieving husband, hotshot Tv newsman Tony Justice, during Karen's funeral. Or is the killer a member of a secret, millionaires-only S/M club?

"The tangled-yet-simple plot ... will keep you off balance until the very end... Fans of Oster's Club Dead and Internal Affairs won't be disappointed..." -Kirkus

To establish the guilt or innocence of Blond Tommy Muldoon, and whether the missing police officer is actually dead or merely in hiding, is Cullen's seemingly impossible job. But he is determined to succeed or die trying-and the odds against succeeding are seemingly insurmountable. Especially when his Ivy League girlfriend, Neil Zimmerman, stumbles into the too hot to handle case and winds up charged with murder.

"Colorful characters and dialogue, nicely painted atmosphere." -Chicago Sun-Times

JERRY OSTER was a crime reporter for UPI, Reuters, and the New York Daily News. He is the author of Club Dead, Internal Affairs, and two novels-Sweet Justice and Saint Mike-that were named Notable Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review