The Cinch - Softcover

Martins, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451400380 ISBN 13: 9780451400383

Publisher: Berkley, 1987

Synopsis

The streets, alleys, and bars owned by Chicago's underworld are the stage on which Frank Thorne and Mary Agnes McCaskey, agents of a special government law-enforcement team, set up their undercover sting operation

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

In Chicago, Sonny Greco is known as an all-around good guy. He cheats on his wife, runs a sports book for the Mob and doesn't collect tardy payments with a baseball bat. Ask his buddy Pizza Sal, whose cavalier attitude toward drugs and gambling debts annoys well-connected people in the neighborhood. Better still, ask Frank Thorne, the federal agent stringing Sonny along on behalf of Operation Clothesline. Using computer-vetted sports tips and adjustments in the point spreads, this scheme to crack down on illegal betting generates huge losses for the Mafia. But Frank wants more. When Sal suggests a big cocaine deal to recoup, the maverick agent sees a chance to trip up Sonny and turn him into an informant. Against his instincts, Sonny agrees to help out with the buy, but Frank's carefully planned sting goes utterly haywire as equipment malfunctions, Sal suffers a highly deserved heart attack, and a smarmy, crooked cop throws a spanner in the works. This vigorous, wise-cracking first novel owes a tip of the hat to The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight. Though slow at the start, it picks up enough speed and street savvy to deliver a satisfying punch at the end.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The FBI sets up a sting operation to trap Mafia chiefs connected with gambling in Chicago. Frank Thorne and Mary Agnes McCaskey are the agents posing as bond and securities experts placing private bets for clients. When Sony Greco, a bookie with Family connections, becomes Thorne's contact and friend, the entire operation becomes tangled in complications. Among the problems: a dope deal, a bad city cop, a double-dealing girl friend, and a sting within a sting. While the early pages are heavy with often incomprehensible jargon (gambling, sports, and Chicago) the pace and story heat up to a sizzling climax. Readers who stick with this will love it. Robert H. Donahugh, Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Berkley
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0451400380
• ISBN 13: 9780451400383
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 334