Which made no fucking sense whatsoever.
“You son of a bitch,” Saugherty finally mumbled, when the waves of shock and pain finally ebbed. He took his frustrations out on Lennon’s body. “Shouldn’t you be out collecting your money? Isn’t that what this is all about?”
Nothing.
“I know you’re still alive. I can feel your body breathing.”
Nothing.
“You’re trembling. You’re scared, ain’t ya?”
Still nothing.
“Goddamnit, I wish you could have held on to your voice a bit longer. ’Cause you know, I’m really dying to know what was going through your head the past couple of days.”
Saugherty felt the trembling increase. At first, he thought the mute bank robber was going through death spasms. His body finally giving out. After a while, he realized he was wrong.
Lennon was laughing.
NEWS BULLETS
Briefly … CITY/REGION
Cement foundation poured for New Jersey’s children’s museum
After countless political delays and bitter turf squabbles, the new Children’s Discovery Museum in Camden, NJ, took one step closer to reality as workers laid the museum’s thick concrete foundation. “The first kids will be running through the front doors in about seven months,” promised wunderkind developer Jeffrey Greenblatt. “This will breathe new life into the dead urban center that is Camden.”
Briefly … CITY/REGION
13thdead Perelli associate … linked to mystery slayer?
The mob wars in Philadelphia continue to heat up this summer, even though members from both the Perelli and Barone families deny they’re feuding. The latest victim: 45-year-old Manny Namako, a suspected arsonist and bookmaker, found dead in the bathroom of his South Philly row home. “The police need to investigate this for what it is: a madman with a rifle preying on innocent businessmen,” mob lawyer Dan Behuniak told reporters yesterday.
Officially, police refuse to acknowledge the rumors that a vigilante dubbed “Mr. K” has been systematically erasing alleged wise guys for the past nine weeks.
But one law-enforcement insider confirms: “Yeah, there’s somebody out there. He’s pissed. And he’s a good shot, too.”
CITY/REGION
Strange odor disturbs summer visitors to NJ kids’ museum
“Like old fish and cheese … ick!” says Alison Eaton, 10, of her July visit to the Children’s Discovery Museum.
Kids are discovering things, all right. They’re discovering how adept their noses are at detecting foul odors.
For some unexplained reason, the brand-new museum is inundated with an odor that one security guard—a Vietnam War veteran—could only compare it to “the stench of bloated bodies floating along the Mekong Delta.”
“We have the best environmental forensic analysts in the country working on it,” responds Jeffrey Greenblatt, the young, troubled developer who has watched multiple projects fizzle at the last moment. This, however, could spell the breaking point for Greenblatt, real-estate analysts say, as well as the end of new development in Philadelphia or Camden for years to come.
Briefly … CITY/REGION
$100 from Wachovia heist recovered
LAS VEGAS, NV.—Police made an arrest today in the months-old Wachovia bank heist after a Philly resident used a hundred dollar bill to pay for beer and pornography magazines in a convenience store.
Dylan McManus, 20, aroused the suspicions of the clerk when he insisted he was a “high roller from Philadelphia” and didn’t need to be carrying I.D. for beer. The clerk took the bill, then called the FBI, who traced McManus to a motel in Laughlin.
Previously, McManus had been employed as a security guard at Park-o-Matic, a park-it-yourself lot based in downtown Philadelphia.
PRAISE FOR THE WHEELMAN BY DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
“A bittersweet slice of noir … . Swierczynski’s novel, like those of [Elmore] Leonard, offers an undertow of humor beneath the churning sea of man’s inhumanity. His knowledge of both the City of Brotherly Love and the mind-set of bank robbers helps make The Wheelman the delight it is.”
—Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
“Adrenaline-charged … fast-moving and funny, The Wheelman is Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in an R-rated amusement park.”
—Booklist
“The Wheelman is as lean and intrepid as its title character, an assured and accomplished novel with a devilish sense of humor. In this, just his second novel, Duane Swierczynski puts the rest of the crime-writing world on notice. So learn to spell the last name. He’s going to be around for a while.”
—Laura Lippman, Edgar Award–winning author of Every Secret Thing
“A great heist story in the rich tradition of Richard Stark’s Parker novels and Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing … keeps readers holding their breath to see what’s going to happen next. It is clearly the work of a maturing writer who is possessed of a keen style and abundant talent.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“[A] promising debut … the gripping tale of a heist gone wrong.”
—Robert Wade, The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Dark stuff … hilariously funny at the same time. Swierczynski has come up with his own twisted and thoroughly enjoyable genre. Bring on some more, sir.”
—Rocky Mountain News
“Swierczynski has an uncommon gift for the banal lunacy of criminal dialogue, a delightfully devious eye for character, and a surprisingly well-developed narrative engine for a beginner.”
—Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
“I cancelled a night out and stayed up all night reading. That’s how much I loved this book … at every turn, I was blindsided. Hilarious and bloody violent.”
—Ken Bruen, author of the Shamus Award–winning The Guards
“A double-joined plot that twists and turns so furiously he could take the gold if contortionists competed in the Olympics … . The Wheelman is twisted, funny, violent—and a blast.”
—Mystery Scene
“Astonishing! Duane Swierczynski has written one of the great all-time heist novels and this guy’s just getting started.”
—Jason Starr, Barry Award–winning author of Twisted City
“I loved it. Can’t wait for the next one.”
—Robert Ferrigno, author of Prayers for the Assassin
“An exciting, gritty, adrenaline-charged tale … . Swierczynski is definitely a rising star in contemporary American crime fiction; his oddball cast of characters is reminiscent of the Donald Westlake’s Dortmunder Gang—on steroids!”
—Lansing State Journal
“A blistering, edge-of-your-seat tale from a major new talent. This book was an absolute joy to read.”