Strangers at the Gate

In a fast-paced thriller, a wealthy Jewish police detective from San Francisco puts his own career--and the woman he loves--on the line when he enters the violent Californian underworld of immigrants from Hong Kong. By the author of The Last Jews in Berlin. 40,000 first printing. $40,000 ad/promo.

Hong Kong crime comes to San Francisco in this political/police procedural that begins with the mutilation of a San Francisco newscaster by unidentified Asians. The burden of solving the crime falls upon Captain Zachary Tobias of the Gang Task Force of the SFPD. Though Tobias is laden by Gross (coauthor with Pierre Salinger of Mortal Games) with would-be idiosyncrasies (being a Jewish cop, for one), he's not so unique: his independent wealth is shared by a number of other fictional cops, including David Lindsey's Stuart Haydon, and how many cop-heroes aren't idealist liberals in a corrupt system? Nor will readers be surprised when Gross is told by the police chief, "You're off the Maggie Winehouse case.... And stay the hell away from Jimmy Chang. Those are orders." But Tobias is at least persistent, following clues from the waterfront right up to the toniest houses on the hill, with stops in Hong Kong and Vancouver. Meanwhile, Gross showers, and sometimes inundates, the narrative with detail about various locales and their endemic crimes. Excepting the author's chilly, cliched excursions into character, this impressively well-researched story simmers along smartly, bringing into dramatic focus the ongoing influx of Hong Kong criminals into the U.S. in the face of the impending 1997 takeover by China.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Independently wealthy, Jewish, and cultured, Zach Tobias of the San Francisco P.D. is no stereotypical cop. When local TV anchorwoman Maggie Winehouse becomes the victim of a violent and disfiguring crime at the hands of two Asian assailants, Zach senses that it's only the tip of an international iceberg. Maggie has hosted a local news program about Asian immigration into San Francisco, and Hong Kong triads equipping for political changes in 1997 may be threatened by possible exposure. After an inexplicable suspension from the force, Zach encounters roadblocks from Vancouver to Hong Kong. The case ultimately unravels Zach's love life, career, and self-image. Gross (Mortal Games, with Pierre Salinger, LJ 2/1/88) has penned a stunner of a novel that is as sensuous a romp through San Francisco, Canada, and Hong Kong as it is a riveting prelude to tomorrow's headlines. Highly recommended.
-.?Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.