Booklist Review
Murder was easy. The tricky part was getting away with it. So says Doak Miller, former NYPD cop, now retired to small-town Florida. To keep his hand in, he agrees to help out the cops by posing as a hit man to entrap a woman looking to kill her husband. Plans change abruptly after Doak gets a peek at Lisa, the girl with the deep blue eyes. Suddenly he's planning a murder for real, just like in Double Indemnity and all those other films noir in which a poor sap kills an inconvenient husband to get his chance with the femme fatale. But gets caught instead. Emboldened, perhaps, by the positive response to Hard Case Crime's recent republication of several soft-core thrillers Block wrote pseudonymously in the fifties, the author apparently decided to see if he still has the touch. He does. The sex is just as hot as in the earlier books, and the thriller element just as clever. Is Doak just a guy who'll do anything for a girl, or is the taste of blood just a little too sweet? Sex, murder, and moral ambiguity combine for a deliciously naughty read, for those so inclined.--Ott, Bill Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Doak Miller retired from the NYPD three years ago, moved to Florida, and established himself as a PI for hire. His latest gig for the local sheriff's office has Doak playing the role of a New Jersey hit man. The cops have been tipped off that Lisa Otterbein, a disgruntled wife, is looking to have her rich husband bumped off. But Doak's plans go awry after he sees a photo of Lisa and falls instantly and passionately in love. Their meeting ignites the beginning of their twisted, psychosexual relationship, which evolves into a plot to murder Lisa's husband. Verdict Block's (The Girl with the Long Green Heart) ninth contribution to Hard Case Crime's lineup of classic and contemporary pulp fiction is less a crime thriller and more an examination of one extremely troubled and disturbed man. Rife with numerous and explicit sexual scenes, some of them violent, this is crime fiction at its most vulgar. Only for fans of the publisher and readers who like sexually graphic hard-boiled fiction.-Amy Nolan, St. Joseph, MI © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.