Eugene Izzi s first novel, The Take,

signaled the arrival of a major new crime

writer. His second novel, Bad Gusts, is

one of equally shattering intensity and

menacing power.

Like its predecessor, Bad Guys is set in

a Chicago only a few know well--the

back streets, the bars that local wiseguys

use as hangouts, the benign-looking

restaurants and suburban homes where

mob capos make their deadliest deals. It

is a territory shared uneasily by two men:

Jimbo Marino, a cop with granite nerves

who has survived for six months as a

mole deep inside organized crime, and

his nemesis, GiGi Parnell, a psychopathic

killer whose release from prison gives

him the opporturnity to inflict a violent,

blind-siding revenge on the policeman

who put him away.

As Jimbo tries to stay one step ahead of

Parnell, he also must outrun the rage of

Mafia underbosses who have learned his

identity. Jimbo s obsession with Parnell

not only threatens his positioin on the

force, but makes him the target of

Angelo"Tombstoue" Paterro. Readers of The Take will recall Tombstone as Chicago s craftiest --and most ruthless-- "man of respect."