Wallace Kern was a rich man, president and owner of his father’s pharmaceutical company. His brother, William (“Bill”) Kern, was just a car salesman and disdained by his ambitious family. But then, Bill was also a compulsive gambler who went on sprees and wrote bad checks to cover his losses. In the no-holds-barred Chelsea district of 1970s New York City where private detective Dan Fortune worked, Bill Kern was known as a paperhanger. Wallace hires Fortune to drag his gambling brother back home from his latest fling. But Fortune soon discovers the truth: the brother has disappeared with the money he was supposed to use to get Wallace’s son out of a Mexican jail. That’s a big problem. Followed by a bigger problem: murder. Here is a gripping story of the iconic detective following the violent twists of a trail that leads him from mansions and glassy skyscraper offices to dark Manhattan rooftops where cop and killer stalk one another. You’ll watch backroom card games and meet gamblers, dope-pushers, and killers – the nightrunners – until, finally, and worst of all for Fortune, he has to avenge a personal loss. "A fast-pace thriller ... a good book to read at one sitting on a rainy evening." - Minneapolis Tribune "[Lynds] juggles everything around like the expert he is, and the complications are nicely resolved." - The New York Times "[Lynds] writes with firmness and intelligence. His style is staccato, matched to the action and tone." - Washington Post "Briskly paced, tersely told." - The Buffalo Evening News Dennis Lynds wrote some 40 books and 200 short stories. His Dan Fortune novels are considered one of America's most classic and beloved series of detective mysteries.  He won numerous awards including the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Private Eye Writers of America. His work was chosen for Best American Short Stories and Best Mystery and Suspense Stories. A teenage rifleman in World War II, he came home with a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. He went on to earn degrees in chemistry and journalism and was a New York magazine editor for many years.  Born in 1924, he died in 2005.  Obituaries celebrating him appeared around the globe. His career had lasted more than fifty years. "To spin tales as intriguing and thought provoking as Lynds's for decades is a remarkable enough achievement. Even more remarkable is the sustained quality." - Los Angeles Times