The Velvet Badge

"Elevated by a satisfying blend of hard-boiled suspense and subtle hints of satire, Bob Mantel's The Velvet Badge: A New York Noir is a stunning debut from a must-read author." -- IndieReader

 

"A horrific crime catalyzes desperate New Yorkers in this arresting neo-noir ensemble tale. In his striking first novel, [Bob] Mantel creates a dark world where everyone has a secret that could lead to destruction. . .  Mantel's terrific use of language [is] an homage to classic noir fiction but always fresh in its own way. . . The mood lasts long after the reader has finished." -- BookLife, Publishers Weekly

 

"In this debut literary novel. . . {Mantel's prose is. . .] stylish, evoking hard-boiled crime novels through Pynchon-esque prose. An entertaining.. . .murder tale.: -- Kirkus Reviews.

 

Lesbian disco-era careerists fall afoul of a New York City revenge murder in this hard-edged neo-noir.

 

A tasteless night club run by a failed JFK assassination co-conspirator brings out the worst in 1970s New York.

 

Songbird Sadasia Trayne runs into a disco-era buzzsaw of wine, women, and murder when she hooks up with the Brooklyn-based creator of a notorious TV. sitcom.

 

Her frantic SOS to a long-lost love, the Big Apple's closeted lesbian Chief of Police Detectives, drives this tale of memory and regret, compromise and topiary, politics and a corrupt press, Kris Kringle and twisted acts of love.

 

Will the headline-grabbing sex crime she sets out to solve max out the Chief's investigative skills or deep-six her career?

 

The Velvet Badge combines edge-of-your-seat storytelling with stone-cold hilarity and just a touch of holiday ho-ho-ho.