Blue Belle

Burke is one of the most cold-blooded yet strangely honorable heroes in the history of crime fiction, an outlaw who makes his living by preying on the most vicious of New York City#x19;s bottom-feeders, those who thrive on the suffering of children. In Andrew Vachss#x19;s tautly engrossing novel Burke is given a purse full of dirty money to find the infamous Ghost Van that is cutting a lethal swath among the teenage prostitutes in the #x18;hood. He also gets help in the form of a stripper named Belle, whose moves on the runway are outclassed only by what she can do in a getaway car. But not even. Burke is prepared for the evil that is behind the Ghost Van or for the sheer menace of its guardian, a cadaverous karate expert who enjoys killing so much that he has named himself after death.

Andrew Vachss, an attorney in private practice specializing in juvenile justice and child abuse, is the country’s best recognized and most widely sought after spokesperson on crimes against children. He is also a bestselling novelist and short story writer, whose works include <b>Flood</b> (1985), the novel which first introduced Vachss’ series character Burke, <b>Strega</b> (1987), <b>Choice of Evil</b> (1999), and <b>Dead and Gone</b> (2000). His short stories have appeared in <i>Esquire</i>, <i>Playboy</i>, and <i>The Observer</i>, and he is a contributor to <i>ABA Journal</i>, <i>Journal of Psychohistory</i>, <i>New England Law Review</i>, <i>The New York Times</i>, and <i>Parade</i>.<br><br>Vachss has worked as a federal investigator