Mafiya

Stella is a kind of obscene Ring Lardner, finding a lean, rancid poetry in his characters' vernacular, and rendering it with flawless precision and humor.-The Washington Post Book World A hooker gone straight, the street-smart Agnes Lynn declares vengeance on the Mafiya when her best friend turns up dead and mutilated, only to find herself enmeshed in grim plots with Russian mavericks on both sides of the law. Charlie Stella's first novel drew favorable comparison with such masters of the crime novel as Mario Puzo and Elmore Leonard. Mafiya is his sixth novel. Stella lives in New Jersey.