KISS ME TWICE by Maxwell, Thomas [pseudonym of Thomas Gifford] - 1988

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Mysterious Press, 1988. 1st. Edition, first printing, October 1988. with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in dust jacket, not price clipped, with protective mylar cover. Maxwell continues to pay homage to the film noir tradition.The year is 1945. Ex-football star Lew Cassidy is now a partner in a detective agency with his Fordham sidekick, Terry Leary, and Harry Madrid, both former cops. His wife, Karin, supposedly killed in the bombing of Cologne, has been found alive by U.S. Army intelligence officer Col. Sam MacMurdo. Several problems prevent the couple's reconciliation, however. Suffering amnesia as a result of injuries incurred during the blitz, Karin has married SS officer Manfred Moller. MacMurdo recruits Lew to destroy an American escape route for Nazis being run by Reichsmarshal Hermann Goring, whose cohort is Karin's husband. Moller has traveled to the U.S. to establish Goring's network and Lew must find him if he and Karin are to have a second chance for happiness. Maxwell's excellent portrayals of both fictional and historical characters and his attention to period detail effectively evoke the wartime era. The gripping, brisk-paced plot boasts a stunning conclusion. 1st Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.