Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
Gibbons and Tozzi, the FBI renegades People called "the best fictional cop duo around," are in deep trouble with the mob and about to see if one bad apple can slaughter the whole bunch. Working on an undercover mob sting operation, Tozzi has targeted Tony Bells, the strangest wiseguy in the Mafia. But when the last agent to go undercover with Bells is suddenly found slumped over the wheel of his car, covered with blood and near death, Gibbons has to risk blowing Tozzi's cover to let him know how dangerous Bells really is. Gibbons unsuspectingly tips Bells off to Tozzi's true identity, and the crazed wiseguy handcuffs Tozzi to the mob sister they both have their eyes on, taking them hostage. The chase is on as the trio moves all over town trying to avoid the police and the mob, but eventually they're cornered after midnight on the Upper West Side where the giant balloons are being inflated for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Bullets fly and tempers flare as Gibbons and Tozzi square off against the bad guys in a deadly showdown that manages to be a bit surreal, very funny, and thoroughly entertaining, all at the same time.Deep undercover in the mob world, Tozzi's target is Tony "Bells" Bellavaita, the most feared hitman in the business. But the operation goes very wrong when Bells shoots a man and takes Tozzi hostage. In a showdown worthy of the Big Apple, the good guys and the bad guys meet up among the giant balloons lining up for the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
In their engagingly quirky sixth outing, the FBI's odd couple of Tozzi and Gibbons (Bad Guys) learn that hell hath no fury like a mobster scorned. A bad day for Gibbons gets worse when fellow agent Gary Peterson, working undercover, is shot while waiting to meet with crazy mob middleman Tony ``Bells'' Bellavita. Meanwhile, the Agency has let another mob associate, Bobby ``Freshy'' DeFresco, slide in exchange for introducing Tozzi, also working undercover, to Bells, who takes him to meet big-time loan shark Buddha Stanzione. Freshy is a minnow swimming among mob sharks, but Bells sponsors him because he's crazy for Freshy's sister, Gina, who's a buyer at Macy's-and who is Tozzi's current romantic interest as well, though she knows him only as ``Mike Santoro the pornmeister.'' Bells persuades Buddha to loan Freshy and Tozzi start-up dough, then takes them on a shakedown tour that ends at Macy's, where he sees his face on every TV-wanted for Peterson's shooting-and realizes that Tozzi is FBI. Enraged, Bells grabs Gina and Tozzi and splits with revenge on his mind-only to be followed, with hilariously limited success, by Freshy and an accomplice, who snatch Gibbons and his wife to track Bells in an FBI surveillance van. Multiple chase scenes, mob justice and women trouble for both agents are zanily choreographed by Bruno right up to a climactic Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade shootout. Though paced more slowly than other entries in the series, partly because of a relative paucity of Bruno's always drop-dead dialogue, this story builds white-knuckle tension even as its earthy heroes continue to amuse and charm. (Nov.)Library Journal
Bruno adds to his successful Gibbons and Tozzi series (Bad Luck, Delacorte, 1990) as the two attempt an undercover sting operation. The Mafia man targeted, however, discovers Tozzi's true identity, so kidnapping, chase scenes, and violence ensue.Wes Lukowsky
Tony "Bells" Bell is a psychotic loan shark who flips out and shoots an FBI agent, thus becoming the object of an intensive manhunt headed by mismatched partners Cuthbert Gibbons and Mike Tozzi. The agents are aided in their search of New York's underworld by Freshy, a goofy, moon-faced snitch and a sometimes associate of Bells. As was the case in the previous "Bad" novels featuring Gibbons and Tozzi, the engaging crime story is complemented by a secondary plot in which the easily exasperated Gibbons copes badly with a domestic issue. This time it's a bad tooth; Gibbons isn't sure what's worse, the pain in his jaw or his wife nagging him to get it fixed. There's a dentist in his immediate future until Bells grabs Tozzi as a hostage, and the Mob takes an interest in their wayward member. The Gibbons-Tozzi novels are great fun: the bad guys are scary, the good guys are likable and funny, the dialogue is streetwise, and, in this case, there's the added bonus of a surprise ending.Book Details
Published
December 31, 1995
Publisher
Del Rey Books
Pages
336
Format
Paperbound
ISBN
9780440211211