The Heartbreak Lounge
By Wallace Stroby
(St. Martin's Paperbacks, Mass Market Paperback, 9780312939120, 352pp.)
Publication Date: March 7, 2006
Other Editions of This Title: Paperback (November 9, 2009), Hardcover (January 13, 2005)
Categories: Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled
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After a seven-year stretch inside a Florida penitentiary for attempted murder, Johnny Harrow knows exactly what he'll do when he gets out. He's going home to the shabby Jersey shore town where his girlfriend Nikki made the most selfless decision of her hard life: Giving up their newborn son for adoption. It’s time for Johnny to claim what’s his…
Nikki made one terrible mistake—she didn't tell Johnny her decision until the child was gone. She knows Johnny never forgets…or forgives. She also knows what he’s capable of. It’s up to her to protect the child once again…
Desperate to save the child from the seething menace that is Johnny Harrow, Nikki turns to former New Jersey state trooper Harry Rane for help. Now, an investigator, Rane must crawl through the darkest corners of the New Jersey underworld to find Johnny and stop him. But Johnny Harrow isn't a man who’s often caught unaware…and so the game begins.
WALLACE STROBY is an editor for the New Jersey Star Ledger. His first novel, The Barbed-Wire Kiss, was a finalist for the Barry Award for Best First Novel. He lives in New Jersey, where he was born and raised.
“Stroby continues to show a real flair for blending noir into a tightly plotted fireball of suspense in his second novel. The Heartbreak Lounge’s tense story is complemented by believable characters—both heroes and villains…Stroby infuses his action-packed story with unpredictable twists. The Heartbreak Lounge continues the high standards Stroby set in his debut.”—Florida Sun-Sentinel
“In a brilliant follow-up to his impressive debut, Stroby continues the hard-boiled adventures of Harry Rane.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Well-refined prose, vivid descriptions, and mounting tension stamp this hard-hitting follow-up to the acclaimed The Barbed-Wire Kiss.”—Library Journal
“Stroby’s first book about ex-New Jersey State Trooper Harry Rane, The Barbed-Wire Kiss, found some tough, sharp new things to say about the often-clichéd character of cop gone wrong. Stroby’s second Rane storm is even better.”—Chicago Tribune
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