The Doomsday Bag — Michael Avallone

“The Bagman disappeared at approximately 1:30, and hardly fifteen minutes had gone by before I knew that there was something in it for me." Ed Noon, Private Eye

The President's “Shadow” is missing, and with him the lethal Doomsday Bag -- the black satchel that contains the thermonuclear codes for total world destruction. When that black bag disappears, the President hands detective Ed Noon the grimmest assignment of his career: find the Bagman, and fast. If Noon fails, there will be no world left to know about it.

The Adventures of Ed Noon, Private Eye, spanning 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 towards 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.