This image is the cover for the book Bullitt

Bullitt

To protect a witness, a loose cannon of a cop takes on the whole mob

Clancy doesn’t care that the shooter is a witness in an important trial. All he knows is that the guy has a gun—and no one pulls a gun on Lieutenant Clancy of the NYPD. Shooting the state’s witness earns Clancy a transfer to the backwater 52nd Precinct. To get his career on track, he is forced to accept a humiliating assignment: babysitting mob kingpin Johnny Rossi while he waits to testify before the crime commission. When a thug guns Rossi down in his hotel room, Clancy suspects the killer had a man inside. He will bring fiery justice to those responsible, whether the rats are in the mafia or in City Hall.

The inspiration for the Steve McQueen film Bullitt, this novel has all the tension and excitement of a classic.

Robert L. Fish

Robert L. Fish, the youngest of three children, was born on August 21, 1912, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the local schools in Cleveland and went to Case University (now Case Western Reserve), from which he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. He married Mamie Kates, also from Cleveland, and together they have two daughters. Fish worked as a civil engineer, traveling and moving throughout the United States. In 1953 he was asked to set up a plastics factory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He and his family moved to Brazil, where they remained for nine years. He played golf and bridge in the little spare time he had. One rainy weekend in the late 1950s, when the weather prohibited him from playing golf, he sat down and wrote a short story that he submitted to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. When the story was accepted, Fish continued to write short stories. In 1962 he returned to the United States; he took one year to write full time and then returned to engineering and writing. His first novel, The Fugitive, won an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery. When his health prevented him from pursuing both careers, Fish retired from engineering and spent his time writing. His published works include more than forty books and countless short stories. Mute Witness was made into a movie starring Steve McQueen.

Fish died February 23, 1981, at his home in Connecticut. Each year at the annual Mystery Writers of America dinner, a memorial award is presented in his name for the best first short story. This is a fitting tribute, as Fish was always eager to assist young writers with their craft.

RosettaBooks, LLC