The Snatch — Bill Pronzini

The nine-year-old son of financial speculator Louis Martinetti is being held for $300,000 ransom, and the Nameless Detective hires on to handle the drop. When the time comes, however, the money is hijacked and a man is murdered. The child and the killer must be found, and the risks involved are indeed real ones in this novel of mounting suspense. The Snatch clearly shows why Bill Pronzini has become known as one of the outstanding practitioners of the San Francisco private eye novel.