Bliss Jumps the Gun — Bob Sloan

New York City homicide detective Lenny Bliss's biggest mistake wasn't bungee-jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. The mistake was handing his gun to the previous jumper, a young Chinese girl: she's gone. Bliss's wife has a successful career as a stand-up comic (often using him for material), but for Bliss work is serious. A young Off-Broadway actor has been found dead on stage; Bliss's partner, Ward, is out of commission, reeling from having been shot by a druggie --and now an unstable young woman has disappeared with Bliss's gun. Bob Sloan's street-smart plot, full of jump-cut scenes and colorful New York atmosphere, follows Bliss as he frantically tries to track down Li-Jung while also investigating murder suspects. Why are the dead man's very rich parents acting strangely? What motives are the other members of the theater troupe hiding--the poetic Wolf, haunted by Vietnam memories; the director Katrina, with her obsessive videotaping; the seductive Constance, who harbors a secret and seems bent on distracting Bliss from his job? Meantime Li-Jung, a walking time bomb of rage and loneliness, waits for the right moment to use her unexpected new power. When a nothing-to-lose ex-cop picks her up in his cab and sees a way to make some blackmail money, events come together fast in a tense and satisfying conclusion.