THE DISPOSABLE MAN

N.Y.: Mysterious Press, 1998. 1st edition, November 1998, with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, with protective mylar cover. The ninth Joe Gunther novel set in Brattleboro, Vermont. "In Brattleboro, Vermont, and for detective lieutenant Joe Gunther, things usually are what they seem. But the discovery of a garroted corpse with Cyrillic tattoos on its toes flings Gunther into a surreal confrontation that may be the CIA versus the KGB, a 40-year-old personal vendetta among now-aged cold warriors, a battle between rival Russian mafiosi, or something else entirely. All Gunther knows for sure is that his odds of surviving are very long, and if he does survive, his career is almost certainly over. Mayor's Joe Gunther novels are among the best cop stories being written today. The sense of place Mayor creates is vivid and real, whether he's writing about Vermont's economically bleak small cities or the harsh wilderness of the Northeast Kingdom. So, too, are the recurring characters and the prickly, complex relationships they maintain with one another. In this one, Joe worries that the shadowy forces he's battling view him as the Disposable Man..." -- BOOKLIST. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.