Andrew H Vachss, first Burke novel:: Flood. New York, Donald I Fine Inc., 1985. 1st edition. 1st printing. 8vo, 383 pp. Signed by Vachss. printing sequence 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 to copyright page. Blue cloth and cream binding over boards & gilt. FPT $17.95 to jacket flap. The dark freelance investigator Burke meets Flood.

Vachss has written 18 books in the ex-con Burke private eye sequence. This is his first appearance where he comes to the assistance of a young woman named Flood. She is searching for a psychotic freak known as the Cobra. A child molester/killer who has murdered her closest friend’s child. Burke accepts the job, and the reader is taken into an underworld of S&M, perversion, and snuff films, that will leave the reader both horrified, and enraged that the human monsters Vachss describes do actually exist. Burke is assisted by his crew of streetwise characters, who many would regard, like Burke himself as an anti-hero, create an elaborate trap for the Cobra. Allowing Flood the chance for her revenge. Vachss’ writing style is clipped and in the hard boiled style of the best of noir writers.

Condition: Very Fine in similar protected jacket.