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MURDER WITHOUT PITY EXCERPTS:
Chapter 1, House Rules
The two men jumped Stanislas outside the burned-out apartment building, and he realized he had made a mistake.
He raised his cane to strike, but too late. They muscled him,
shouting, up the long flight of stairs and into the drafty room,
and then they got serious.
The one with the German accent, grunting exertion,
bear hugged him several steps and threw him hard onto the stool,
making Stanislas cry out from pain that spiked up his bad leg. Next
the accomplice yanked his arms behind, and he went to work, and
everything went dark.
And afterwards, when Stanislas jerked to struggle
loose, the man with the accent clamped a hand on his shoulder and
warned in French, "Monsieur Cassel, please don't." This
menacing courtesy frightened Stanislas even more. This stranger,
who had helped ambush him, knew his name.
"Monsieur Cassel," the man continued, "you
are a powerful examining magistrate here in Paris. You have
investigated and solved many crimes. You know the high and
mighty and have even indicted some. Fearless, according to
the media. But you do not sit in your Ministry of Justice
Annex office. And you cannot command the police to rescue
you. You are in an abandoned tenement, blindfolded, alone
and powerless, with just me and Luc."
A cell phone beeped. Another man answered, Luc
no doubt, Stanislas guessed, and in French and on the second ring,
as though expecting the caller. In the near silence, as Luc listened,
someone somewhere outside in the fog pounded an angry beat on congas.
Through the throb, Stanislas could hear behind him Luc mumble words
that sounded like code. Something about bringing the car around.
Something about keeping the lights low, and he thought, they're
going to kill me....
Chapter 2, Some Troubling Questions
Louis Boucher stood before Stanislas, straight-backed, in a raincoat with a muffler around his neck....
He would have looked appealing, except for a scar...which hinted at violence.
Chapter 7, View From a Window
As Stanislas locked up the studio, he felt a hunch stronger now than before his visit. Leon Pincus
appeared more than the begger-pensioner that Boucher claimed, and Louis Boucher, less the
innocent than he himself professed.
Chapter 16, Ploys
Louis Boucher felt trapped. The thought of dying alone in prison terrified him.
Chapter 21, Last Metro Home
Heaps of fog roiled in waves through the night, obliterating Rue de Rivoli under
its onslaught. Only traffic lights landmarked the street, and they blinked spectral red like
storm lanterns....
Chapter 25, Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse
So that after Danny had thrown him out onto the sidewalk and clanged the gate
shut, what stayed with Stanislas wasn't the youth's meanness, but the wild fear in his eyes
over what he had promised to reveal.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
| Chapter 1, House Rules |
Chapter 15, The Devil's Trap |
| Chapter 2, Some Troubling Questions |
Chapter 16, Ploys |
| Chapter 3, A Call for Monsieur Boucher |
Chapter 17, The Third Day |
| Chapter 4, Benefit at the Hotel Eden |
Chapter 18, Sunday in the Park |
| Chapter 5, Hatred Has No Home Here |
Chapter 19, The Freedom Room |
| Chapter 6, A Death in the Family |
Chapter 20, The Dark Years |
| Chapter 7, View From a Window |
Chapter 21, Last Metro Home |
| Chapter 8, Panic |
Chapter 22, After Anna |
| Chapter 9, A Night Out on the Town |
Chapter 23, The Briefing |
| Chapter 10, Project Janus |
Chapter 24, Stakeout |
| Chapter 11, Beggar, Thief, Spy? |
Chapter 25, Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse |
| Chapter 12, So Many Years, So Many Lies |
Chapter 26, The Fifth Man |
| Chapter 13, Anna's Story |
Chapter 27, Blackmailer's Song |
| Chapter 14, Stanislas's Fears |
Chapter 28, The Procession |
Chapter 29, I Want the Borders Closed
REVIEWS:
"Intriguing." Alan J. Bishop, Criminal History, For Fans of Historical Crime Fiction
"...an admirable debut." Francesca Terry, Mystery Morgue
"...a well written and timely mystery of fact and fiction." Jonathan David Masters, Booktrees & Etc
"...a puzzle to keep you guessing...guaranteed to keep you reading." Anne K. Edwards, MysteryFiction.net
"...brilliantly paints a picture of haunting suspense...the most innocent walk, the most boring stake-out seems ominous." Lillian Brummet, Bookideas.com
"...not a simple murder mystery...explores the lasting nature of war...a tense book, often secretive...well worth the effort." Jeanette Cottrell, ebook-reviews.net
"The descriptions of a foggy, depressed city add beautifully to the drama, and the characters are vivid and distinctive...mysteriously intriguing." Nancy Morris, AllBooks Review
"...tension stays with the story up to the dramatic end...a very good book, well worth reading...I highly recommend it..." Sid Weaver, Mainly Mysteries
"...a taut, highly charged novel that looms between reality and fiction...a great read." Viviane Crystal, Crystal Reviews
Protagonist "Stanislas Cassel is a strong believable character with very human
flaws. If you enjoy...complex situations, this is your book." Della Camera, Sime~Gen Reviews
"...the reader feels the tension...something different in a whodunit...Haberman offers interesting twists as he connects...history with mystery." Sharron Stockhausen, Armchair Interviews
"...a page turner..." Annabel Hart, Lonely Planet's Paris travel guide
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