The Alarming Clock — Michael Avallone

ED NOON MYSTERY #5

"That's just one of the reasons I had fallen for her so hard. She had my line of patter, my kind of thinking. I like people who laugh when they're facing a firing squad."--Ed Noon, Private Eye

Ed Noon receives an odd alarm clock in the mail with a mysterious message that leads to a showdown with some very murderous ex-Nazis and a diabolical plot to sabotage America's next, most crucial A-bomb test. Noon is reunited with the lovely Alma Wheeler (from THE TALL DOLORES) and has his very first contact with the White House... a contact which will ultimately lead to his future employment as a spy for Mr. President in many cases and years to come.

ED NOON SERIES

The Adventures of Ed Noon, Private Eye, span over 30 novels written between 1953 and 1990. Noon starts out dirt poor with a tiny office in Midtown Manhattan (his "Mouse Auditorium") but success moves him to better digs, a lovely secretary (Melissa Mercer) and, eventually, the most important client of all: the President of the United States. The series concludes with a daring turn toward science fiction in the last two novels. Through it all, the wisecracking Noon is consistent: a movie and baseball-obsessed romantic who always fights the good fight. And, more often than not, wins.