Ralph Pezzullo's debut novel, Eve Missing, is as hard boiled a noir mystery as hard boiled can get. The writing is skilled, crisp, raw. The fast pace is constant and rhythmic.

As a New York City police officer Smokey Annicelli and his partner get caught up in a mess. Smokey is fingered to take the fall and is removed from the force. Befriended by a mysterious, powerful and well-connected man he continues his career as an unlicensed private investigator.

Lina is a young fashion model that Smokey once helped when she was a young, troubled girl. A friendship started and grew. So when Lina's friend, Eve, disappears she asks Smokey for help.

His investigation leads to Danielle Girous, a wealthy and independent businesswoman. Eve worked the streets as a hooker until she met kind hearted Danielle who took in the girl and then called in favors in order to kick off Eve's modeling career. Though the ex-prostitute became quickly successful, it seems it was hard for her to break old habits.

Forget lover's triangle, a lover's pentagon is more like it. Smokey's investigation leads him on the trail of one mangled love affair after another. The women he encounters have low self-esteem and have recently been burned. They are sexy and vulnerable, not to mention aggressive. He forgets the one important rule he learned from his police captain. Never get involved. Easier said than done. When he falls for Danielle, he loses all objectivity.

His search for answers leads him down multiple roads. Everyone seems to know more than they are letting on. There is never a lack of clues to keep the scent strong, but he is running out of time. Eve might be dead and just when he is about to discover answers; Lina wants him off the case. He is not sure whom to trust anymore.

Like Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series, Smokey Annicelli is the type of P.I. readers will want to see more of. He's gritty and rough, with some sense of morals--at certain times, anyway. Eve Missing is loaded with action, wild characters, a load of steamy sexual scenes and a carefully plotted mystery. Pezzullo is a welcomed breath of fresh air in a genre filled with many bland stories.

REVIEWED BY PHILLIP TOMASSO III

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR, PHILLIP TOMASSO III

Phillip Tomasso III is the award-winning author of Adverse Impact, Johnny Blade, Third Ring, Tenth House and Mind Play. He works full time as an employment law paralegal, freelances for a community newspaper and writes regular book reviews for Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, The Best Reviews and Curled Up With A Good Book. Tomasso also writes middle grade novels under the pen name, Grant R. Philips. King Gauthier and the Little Dragon Slayer will be released by Port Town Publishing, September 2003; Sounds of Silence in the Fall of 2004 by Star Bright Books. Living in Rochester, New York with his wife and three children. Tomasso is currently at work on his next mystery and middle grade novels.