The Barbed-wire Kiss A Novel

Now available in paperback--a blistering debut set against the atmospheric background of working-class New Jersey, where retired police officer Harry Rane gets caught between his past and his future, between justice and vengeance. Martin's Press.

Wallace Stroby is an editor for the New Jersey Star Ledger and lives in New Jersey. This is his first novel.

An Ex-Cop, A Mobster, A Beautiful Woman...
Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove. The Jersey Shore ain't what it used to be, but ex-state trooper Harry Rane still calls it home. After his wife's death, Harry got careless, got shot, and he left the force. He's a changed man, leads a quiet life, except when it comes to helping his friends...

Some Triangles Were Made To Be Broken...
Now an old buddy of Harry's wants a big favor. He owes $50,000 to a Jersey crime boss and needs Harry to get him more time to repay the loan. That sounds like a plan...except for the green-eyed, redheaded complication. The mobster's married to a gorgeous lady who once fell hard for Harry. And history is about to repeat itself.

By A Bullet.
Trying to help his friend pay off his debt but inexorably drawn to the girl, soon Harry is between a rock and a hard place. His chances of getting up and staying alive look to be about a million to one....

"Wallace Stroby writes descriptive prose as shiny and sharp as a surgical instrument."
-Chicago Tribune

"Original and exciting...Stroby's dazzling debut manages to wake us up like the slap of a wave on the New Jersey shore."
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)