<b><b>"Vivid and unnerving . . . Eliot Conte is an instant original."</b><br> <b><i> - The Washington Post</i></b><br><br>Someone's shooting dogs in Utica . . .<br></b><br> Ex-PI Eliot Conte ("part Mike Hammer and part William S. Burroughs," according to <i>The Washington Post</i>) thought he'd escaped<i> </i>the sordid underworld of long-established Mafia networks, unsolved crimes, and the specter of his political kingmaker father that make up the background in his gritty hometown of Utica, New York.<br><br> He's returned to his old love, teaching American literature, and a new love, policewoman Catherine Cruz. But the peace doesn't last long. <br><br> First, one of Eliot's students, a Bosnian Muslim, disappears, leaving a trail of texts and e-mails that suggest a terrorism plot underway. Meanwhile, the tightknit community is disturbed by a series of brutal murders of dogs. <br><br> And no matter where he looks, the trail seems to lead back to secrets Conte hoped he'd buried forever.<br><br><br><i>From the Trade Paperback edition.</i>
