Ed McBain: Kiss (USA 2012)

From the Publisher:
Emma Bowles, wife of successful businessman Martin Bowles, discovers that her life is in danger. To ease her mind, Martin hires Denker, an out-of-town bodyguard, to protect her from harm. Which is good -- except she suffers two near-fatal accidents on Denker's watch. Unsure of anything anymore, she does the only sensible thing a damsel in distress can do: she calls on the detectives of the 87th Precinct.

Detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer are quickly suspicious of the entire setup -- and of Denker in particular. Meanwhile the dramatic events surrounding the murder of Carella's father are finally revealed... Torn between personal tragedy and the day-to-day of his job, Carella struggles to find an attempted murderer while he desperately searches for the solace he needs to carry on.

A fascinating performance from crime fiction icon Ed McBain, Kiss takes the gritty glare of his famed 87th Precinct and focuses intensely on personal struggles as well as the nature of justice.

Ed McBain: Kiss. An 87th Precinct Novel. Thomas & Mercer, ISBN: 9781612181721 (March, 2012), 358 p., $13.95.

Ed McBain: Kiss (UK 1993)

From the Publisher:
Someone is trying to kill Emma Bowles. First a man pushes her under a train, then a car runs her down in a suburban street. Her husband hires a private investigator to protect her - but she knows that something doesn't add up.

Things are not adding up for Steve Carella either. His father's killer is on trial, but the defence lawyers seem to have the case tied up in knots. He's beginning to regret the moment when he could have had his revenge...

Ed McBain: Kiss. His New Novel of the 87th Precinct. Mandarin Paperbacks, ISBN: 0749312300 (January, 1993), 305 p., £4.99.

Ed McBain: Kiss (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
"ED MCBAIN OWNS THIS TURF!" - The New York Times Book Review

Someone wants Emma Bowles dead-someone obsessively determined...and as close as a kiss. Terrified, the wealthy, beautiful blonde turns to a stranger for protection and unwittingly places her fragile life in the bloodstained hands of a killer.

"FRESH... AMAZING... McBAIN IS A MASTER" - Atlanta Journal and Constitution

A dedicated cop wants Emma alive. But his own future is in serious jeopardy. For a devastating tragedy has shattered his world...and he's trapped in the machinery of a defective legal system that upholds the law at the expense of justice.

"EXCELLENT... KISS IS A PLUS" - Philadelphia Inquirer

Ed McBain: Kiss. The New 87th Precinct Novel. Avon Books, ISBN: 0380713829 (November, 1992), 351 p., $5.99.

Ed McBain: Kiss (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
With Kiss, the Grand Master of police procedurals does himself one better.
As before, the protagonist of this new story is the whole squad room of the 87th Precinct, the suspense is gripping, the complex, interwoven tale of cops, suspects, and victims provides "the kind of all-around entertainment that movies used to provide, but seldom do anymore" (The New Republic).

The action in Kiss begins with the problem of Martin Bowles, a successful businessman whose wife, Emma, suddenly discovers that her life is in danger -- and is relieved when her husband hires Denker, an out-of-town bodyguard, to protect her.

The first near-fatal accident alarms her; the second sends her into the arms of the police and the attentions of Steve Carella, a hardworking and, these days, troubled detective at the 87th.

Carella and his partner, Meyer, are suspicious of the whole setup, especially of Denker. And well they might be.
Meanwhile, other dramas swirl around them. Carella's father has now been dead for months; his murderers are coming to trial. And Steve finds himself a helpless onlooker in the most painful court case of his life.

As usual, Ed McBain has delivered a police story as true and gritty as the streets of urban America. The ingenious plotting, the crisp dialogue, the razor-sharp suspense that have made him a national treasure -- add to all these an ending that will leave you gasping, and you have Kiss, the forty-fourth 87th Precinct novel, and by far the biggest and best yet!

Ed McBain has won the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America. His last two 87th Precinct novels, Vespers and Widows, were national bestsellers.

Ed McBain: Kiss. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. William Morrow, ISBN: 0688102204 (February, 1992), 351 p., $17.00.