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John Lutz

The Alo Nudger Series Book 1 · Speaking Volumes

About this ebook

Kidnap proves only the prelude to a diabolically clever scheme of fraud and murder in this vivid tale of taut suspense.

Private investigator Alo Nudger didn't have to think twice about accepting the $2,500 fee from Gordon Clark, whose seven-year-old daughter had been "kidnapped" by his ex-wife, Joan. After all, the pay was good, and the job seemed simple enough: bring young Melissa back from Florida to her frantic father. Nudger arrives at his destination to find only an empty house but soon locates Melissa in the safekeeping of a neighbor and reckons his job is done... or is it?

For now Joan is missing, and the man she and Melissa had been living with is murdered. Nudger's new proposition from an equally distraught parent—Joan's father—is not so readily appealing as before. Fifty thousand dollars to locate a missing person is a tempting sum, indeed—assuming Alo Nudger can stay alive long enough to enjoy it.

"One of the best and most unusual novels in the history of private eye fiction." —Cedar-Rapids Gazette. Lutz's bestselling novel SWF Seeks Same was released as the major motion picture, Single White Female starring Bridget Fonda.

About the author

John Lutz's work includes political suspense, private eye novels, urban suspense, humor, occult, crime caper, police procedural, espionage, historical, futuristic, amateur detective, thriller; virtually every mystery sub-genre. He is the author of more than forty novels and over 200 short stories and articles. His novels and short fiction have been translated into almost every language and adapted for almost every medium. He is a past president of both Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America. Among his awards are the MWA Edgar, the PWA Shamus, the Trophee 813 Award for best mystery short story collection translated into the French language, the PWA Life Achievement Award, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Golden Derringer Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of two private eye series, the Alo Nudger series, set in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Carver series, set in Florida, as well as many non-series novels. The two series have garnered their share of awards. Both What You Don't Know Can Hurt You won a Shamus for Best Private Eye Short Story and Ride the Lightning nabbed an Edgar for Best Short Story in 1985. His novel SWF SEEKS SAME was made into the hit movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and his novel THE EX was made into the HBO original movie of the same title, for which he co-authored the screenplay. When Lutz isn't writing, he's reading, following baseball, dining out with friends, or going to movies or plays. Lutz and his wife, Barbara, split their time between St. Louis and Sarasota, Florida. His latest book is the suspense novel Mister X. Praise for John Lutz "Lutz's plotting here has a stark, unusual, genuinely disturbing curve to it—making this another Nudgeresque blend of strong action, lean atmosphere, and downbeat personality." —Kirkus (Dancer's Debt) "...[Lutz] deserves high marks for another intriguing glimpse into the unusual world of Alo Nudger, a uniquely warm and thoroughly disheveled detective." —Booklist (Dancer's Debt) "Lutz's economy of language and well-timed suspense work very well in this tale... A taut mystery recommended for all active collections." —Booklist (Ride the Lightning) "Lutz does an excellent job here... keeping the story complicated and varied but never losing the reader in red herrings or distracting minutiae." —Publishers Weekly (Nightlines) "... a superb thriller that artfully leaves the reader unprepared for its surprising, shattering climax." —Publishers Weekly (Nightlines) "The brilliant language and technique of Nightlines serves his [Lutz's] commitment to people as life's greatest incentive and reward. Here's plenty of reason to read his fine new book." —St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Nightlines) "...Lutz builds a tense, witty tale that he persuades the reader to believe." —Publishers Weekly (Right to Sing the Blues) “CHILLING!” —Macon Telegraph News (Lazarus Man)