"With a well-defined cast, an intricate plot, and plenty of action, devotees of hardboiled police procedurals will find themselves breathless by the end. ... Great for fans of: James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Jakob Arjouni."
-- Publishers Weekly
"The absorbing story will keep readers guessing until the final pages. A riveting crime tale involving slippery police dealings."
-- Kirkus Reviews
When Homicide Detective Thomas Ritter transfers to Hamburg, he thinks the worst is behind him. No more threats of jail time from the Frankfurt rat squad for waterboarding a two-time kiddie rapist. Little does the former special op know he has stepped into the biggest police scandal in Hamburg history.
No one told Ritter that his new partner, Motz Beck, is a moody biker with family ties to mob boss Willi Kaiser, who owns most of the whorehouses in town. Or that Kaiser is fighting a hostile takeover of his crown jewel, Herbertstrasse, from a casino owner, real estate shark, and heroin importer named Sulejman Hasani. Or that Hasani, a person of interest in half a dozen murders -- including that of Beck's former partner -- has business ties to the Hamburg Senate.
Ritter is put in charge of a homicide investigation no one wants solved. Hamburg's interior senator has just been found dead on a St. Andreas cross in the S&M room of Herbertstrasse 7b -- one day before he is to introduce a senate bill declaring the street a national monument and thereby off limits to sharks like Hasani. Ritter and his new partner quickly conclude that the only people they trust less than each other are their bosses in City Hall.