cover image Nineteenth Precinct

Nineteenth Precinct

Christopher Newman. Fawcett Books, $5.99 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-449-14732-0

An innocent bystander having been killed when he gave chase during a murder investigation, NYPD Detective Lieutenant Joe Dante is forced to publicly turn in his badge and go undercover to locate IRA terrorist Billy Mannion. Mannion may have been the hit man on the double murder at an elegant New York City hotel: high-tech magnate Ralph Kane and engineer Veronica Tierny, Kane's partner in bed and on a research breakthrough that could be worth billions. Dante poses as a construction worker to penetrate the Irish working-class community that might be hiding Mannion. Dante suspects that Mannion might have stole some of Kane's research and had contact with either Kane's widow or his daughter and company sales star--but proving it while going undetected by the Irish mob is tricky and dangerous. Newman ( Midtown North ) gives information away before Dante learns it, which cuts into the suspense somewhat. But the action hums along, with the well-paced emergence of the connection between the murder and possible theft of information, and threats of terrorist acts yet to come keep the pages turning effortlessly. (Apr.)