Mark One: The Dummy

John Ball

Speaking Volumes

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Ed Nesbitt has a problem.

Nesbitt is the author of dozens of phenomenally successful suspense novels starring that lethal super-agent of the West, Mark Day, master of karate and aikido, and irresistible womanizer. Everyone loves his books—"So realistic," they say; "Day is so true-to-life." The problem is: he's too realistic. Everyone thinks Nesbitt is Mark Day. Even the enemy. And the enemy means to do something about it.

Which explains what the large man with the very sharp knife is doing in Nesbitt's hotel room in Berlin. Which explains why Nesbitt's luggage and possessions are being ransacked.

Which does not explain what happens the next moment, when Ed Nesbitt quite suddenly finds himself transformed into a man three inches taller, several years younger—and possessed of some of the most awesome fighting capabilities the West has ever known.

Ed Nesbitt, meet Mark Day. You're about to save your own life—in a most remarkable fashion.

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The son of a scientist, John Ball was born in Schenectady, New York, and grew up in Milwaukee. He attended Carroll College in Wisconsin. He subsequently worked as a science staff writer on Fortune, a music critic and feature writer for the Brooklyn Eagle, a daily columnist on the New York World-Telegram & Sun, a broadcaster for a Washington radio station, and a Director of Public Relations for the Institute of Aerospace Sciences. His In the Heat of the Night was awarded a Mystery Writers of America "Edgar" for the Best First Mystery Novel of the Year, and since had been followed by The Cool Cottontail, also featuring his African-American detective, Virgil Tibbs. Mr. Ball has also authored a number of notable young adult books. Praise for John Ball "The guy certainly knows his airplanes well and he held my interest very tightly as he developed the story." —RICHARD BACH, author of Stranger to the Ground and Biplane (Rescue Mission) "A nice tight murder puzzle." —Times Literary Supplement (Five Pieces of Jade) "A taut, dramatic yarn." —Charlotte Observer (Five Pieces of Jade) "Tibbs is as much a model of perfection as the late Wimsey... A good detective who actually ratiocinates." —Times Literary Supplement (London) (Then Came Violence) "John Ball knows how to run with a good plot--and this is one of his best." —Kirkus Reviews (Singapore) "A top notch mystery." —News & Observer (The Kiwi Target) "A breathtaking suspense thriller." —Seattle Post-Intelligencer (The Kiwi Target) "The Kiwi Target is the last book that John Ball wrote. We shall miss his inspiration." —Mystery Scene (The Kiwi Target)