Mad Blood

The Story

"In a world gone dangerously and uncontrollably awry, where loyalties are doubtful and rules become meaningless, the only heroes are renegades. The making of such a hero is the subject of David Nemec's Mad Blood, a novel that is at once an unforgettable mystery and a compelling and chilling examination of the deadlier passions. On the morning Bobby Kennedy dies, two young women are brutally murdered in their apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The case becomes notorious--one of the victims is the niece of a prominent, mysterious artist--and it is only after several months that Danny de Spirit, a young junkie, is apprehended and finally convicted of the killings. Twelve years later parole officer Frank Reppa stumbles onto evidence in a dilapidated Harlem brownstone that convinces him of de Spirit's innocence. He begins a quest to uncover the truth about a crime that has left the families and friends of the two murdered women trapped in a tangle of blackmail and deception. As Reppa learns in the course of his investigation, no one involved in the Behrman-Moffet case seems to want it reopened--not the aging, foppish furrier with a penchant for teen-aged girls; not the volatile fiancé of one of the victims; or the famous sculptor cloistered in a shadowy loft with her fey secretary; or the young women's surviving roommate, an embittered artist whose violent paintings may hold a clue to the real killer's identity. Even the police and parole departments offer more hindrance than help. Only after a second series of murders is committed do Reppa and Leilah--his temporarily bedridden lover and now Nora Charles to his Nick--begin to recognize the startling truth about the object of their search. Mad Blood is mercilessly accurate in its characterizations of individuals corrupted by the temptations of wealth and fame, superb in its evocation of the capricious and competitive SoHo art world and the underside of New York. Exceptional writing, ingenious plotting, and a rare depth of insight combine to make Mad Blood a superior mystery, a novel in the classic tradition of Hammett, Cain, and Chandler"--Dust jacket.

A hardcover edition from 1982 of Mad Blood by David Nemec. It runs to 308 pages, in very good condition. We hold one copy, so once it is gone it is gone. Shelved under Literature & Fiction. Wrapped with care for collectors and shipped from Kuwait.