Years after the personal tragedy that scarred his life, Private Investigator John March lives a twilight existence in Manhattan. He is tough and ruthlessly efficient in his professional life, yet introspective and vulnerable when it comes to his relationships with women. And he struggles daily to maintain a tenuous armed truce with his memories. March"s latest case threatens to shatter that brittle peace: his client is a banker who is being blackmailed, and the man"s beautiful wife is in the firing line. March"s prime suspect is Gerard Nassouli, a monstrous manipulator who vanished years ago. Is Nassouli still a fugitive, or has the law - or one of his many enemies - finally caught up with him? Did he die, or was the vanishing act just one more devilish ploy? Whoever is behind the blackmail is not afraid of killing and March is going to risk everything, including a fragile new happiness as he plunges into a feverish world of greed, corruption and murder. Praise for "Black Maps": "He knows where the bodies are buried and he knows how to write" - Jonathan Kellerman. "Stylish and fast-moving- gripping" - "Daily Telegraph". "An excellent 21st century thriller". - "Independent". "Spiegelman"s first novel pitches from one taut, suspenseful scene to another - Nothing about this stylish, literate mystery reads like a debut, as Spiegelman handles the complex plot with verve. John March is one of the most intriguing new PIs to come along in quite some time, and if this strong first outing is any indication, he should be in for a long and enjoyable run." - "Publishers Weekly." "From the first growls of its take-no-prisoners narrator, all the way to the vivid financial details that only an insider can deliver, "Black Maps" takes readers on an engrossing underground tour through the world of high finance." - Brad Meltzer.