cover image Baby Farm

Baby Farm

Mike Lundy. L. Stuart, $15.95 (249pp) ISBN 978-0-8184-0408-5

Despite some graphic sex, a gruesome stillbirth scene and tough talk, this hard-boiled thrillerin which the eponymous hero of Raven appears againis rather sentimental at the core. New York detective Freddie Raven, a good cop and no more on the take than most, is caught and kicked off the force. His ex-partner Higgins comes up with a lucrative private job for Raven: a nasty billionaire hires him to find and retrieve an illegitimate grandchild. Raven is led to west Texas where Herb and Hester Huston keep half-a-dozen young women captive. Herb picks up stray girls, drugs them and impregnates them; Hester, a defrocked doctor, acts as gynecologist and midwife. The Hustons then sell the babies at a great profit. Raven's rescue attempt involves him in action, danger and several sexual encounters; there's also a subplot involving a top mobster and his mole in the NYPD. Scenes featuring the billionaire's grandson and a whore with a heart of gold are a little saccharine , but the pseudonymous Lundy, ex-New York detective, can spin a fast-moving yarn enlivened by gritty, authentic dialogue. 10,000 copy first printing; $10,000 ad/promo. (September 21)