cover image The Kiss Off: A Novel of Suspense

The Kiss Off: A Novel of Suspense

Jim Cirni. Soho Press, $15.95 (266pp) ISBN 978-0-939149-08-7

In a gritty, insistent voice that grabs the reader from the first sentence, Frank Fontana, Akron-born accountant, narrates this superior suspense novel. Sick of the corporate routine of ""sleepwalking through the company chain of command,''Frank was relieved when the company finally fired him for nonfeasance. Now he is happy with his job tending bar at the Sky View out by LaGuardia Airport, especially since he has married Jackie, five-and-a-half feet of pure sensuality. Then the mob murders Frank's boss, Dusty Sands, apparently because Dusty tried to blackmail the top mobster, and Frank's in a bind because he's a witness to the murder. If he talks to the cops, the mob will probably rub him out too, but the cops are threatening to put him in jail if he doesn't open up. Cirni has a good ear for New York vernacular and he knows the city and its underworld. The action never lets up in this fast-paced thriller. (September 30)