Authors: Colin Harrison

Manhattan Nocturne (54 page)

BOOK: Manhattan Nocturne

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“Like what?”

“Like peanut butter!”

“No. There was some grease on my fingers from dinner, maybe.”

“What did you have for dinner?”

“I ordered in some Thai food, sweetie, it wasn'tâ”

“Oh God!” Judith stood rapidly, hand to her mouth. She rushed from the room in horror, and as our lives fell away minute by minuteâthe arriving EMTs, the police, the call to Wilson's parents, the other boys, now traumatized, crying or chattering nervously, the retrieval of the murderous empty glass (the peanut oil still on its lip, still smellable as the intensified essence of peanuts), the arrival of the other parentsâas all that we had known about ourselves crumbled into oblivion, I could not help but recall that drink of milkâthe cool glass beaded with condensation, the surface of the milk itself curved upward where it clung to the glass, the satisfying incarnation of liquid love, almost tasteable from arm's length, ample and full, safe and clean. Who would have thought it, who would've thought that I, Bill Wyeth, dependable, taxpaying minivan-man, respected partner in a top law firm, would kill an eight-year-old boy with a glass of milk?

Then I recalled that Wilson was one of the boys I'd wanted invited, for his father was Wilson Doan Sr., a managing partner in one of the city's major investment banks, itself one of my firm's largest clients, a company with offices in 126 countries. His boy had choked to death on my ambitionâyou could see it that way, you really could.

AFTERBURN

COLIN HARRISON
Author of MANHATTAN NOCTURNE

CHARLIE RAVITCH is an international corporate tycoon who's well-skilled in the art of the deal. As a husband and father on the hard side of fifty, he's on a quest for immortalityâand for a woman who can make every dream come true. No matter what it costs. Christina Welles is driven by greed. As a prison parolee, she's a veteran of dangerousâand seductiveârelationships, a cunning woman well-schooled in the art of manipulation. Her bid to stay alive on the streets means outrunning her past, and escaping a lie that threatens every life she touches. In a moment of chance, two lives are about to intersect. In a nightmarish twist of fate, two obsessions are about to be indulged. And in a world where anything goes, one false move can destroy them both â¦

“Extraordinary â¦ a masterpiece.”

â
The Washington Post

“An exciting ride.”

â
The New York Times Book Review

ISBN: 0-312-97870-7

AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD
FROM ST. MARTIN'S PAPERBACKS

AFT 10/01

MANHATTAN NOCTURNE

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Crown Publishers edition 1996
Island Books edition / October 1997
St. Martin's Paperbacks edition / February 2004

St. Martin's Paperbacks are published by St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Cover photo Â© Jonathan Nourok/Workbookstock.com

eISBN 9781429905251

First eBook Edition : December 2011

BOOK: Manhattan Nocturne

13.92Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Read Book Download Book

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