The Neon Jungle

Book excerpt: No writer captured the urban blight that befell postwar America in all its grime and commotion as well as noir legend John D. MacDonald. The Neon Jungle depicts a world in which the bright lights belie the turbulent lives of a lost generation. Introduction by Dean Koontz The smell of warm gin hovers over a whole section of town. The threat of violence hangs in the air. And the neighborhood kids know all about drugs, knives, and back-alley beatings long before they’re pushed into high school by weary truant officers. This is simply reality for the family that runs Varaki Quality Market. Its patriarch, Gus Varaki, is doing all he can to keep his business afloat after his beloved middle child, Henry, is killed in action. But his oldest son is at a crossroads, his teenage daughter has been seduced by a rough crowd, and one of his employees is running a racket of his own. Only Henry’s despondent widow, Bonny, sees the awful truth—and the deadly plot hanging over all of their heads. Praise for John D. MacDonald “John D. MacDonald was the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King “My favorite novelist of all time . . . No price could be placed on the enormous pleasure that his books have given me.”—Dean Koontz “John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about the best.”—Mary Higgins Clark