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Poisonous Kiss
by Andras Totisz
Price: $7.50
ISBN: 1-886420-99-8
"The story of the cop was a made-for-tabloid tragedy: He was young, good-looking, talented and convicted of murder. Then there was the love interest. Beautiful, about ten years older . . . "
John Arany is the detective, shot down with his partner in a dark hallway. Celia is the lover, the beautiful police psychologist, who injects him with an aggression-enhancing virus.
When his partner dies, Arany goes hunting for the killer. He does not know the virus has altered his psychology —Celia wants only to save his life.
Mysteries pile up. Murders occur. Good guys turn bad.
Totisz sets his detective novel in the dark ambience of Philadelphia's streets, its warren of underworld nightlife. In Poisonous Kiss, Totisz evokes Philadelphia as an important character in the manner of Hammett's evocation of San Francisco and Chandler's of Los Angeles.
Cover art by Joel Barr
About the Author
When I was about four years old, in 1954 in Hungary, Central Europe, I considered three kinds of careers: to become a chandelier, to become a locomotive, or to become a writer. The first two proved impossible, but the third proved the biggest challenge of my life.
When I was twenty-two, a big publisher accepted my first novel, an environmental thriller. The publishing house just wanted me to perform a few changes "for political reasons." Remember, there was a thing called communism those years in Hungary. When I didn't make the requested changes, my career as a writer was canceled. I had to wait a good fifteen years for my first published novel.
Meanwhile I tried out some other professions. I was a stuntman, typist, karate trainer, construction worker, parking lot attendant, and scene shifter in a theater. As a workingman, I studied journalism and public relations, then history and adult education at Budapest ELTE University. The first published novel was followed by sixteen successful novels. Most of these were published additionally in countries other than Hungary. One of those novels was the base of the Hollywood movie Shadow Kill. I also participated in writing the script.
When I was twenty-seven, an illness forced me to bed for two weeks. I spent the time learning English with a grammar book and a tape. Since that time I have read a few American books and have translated a few hundred. When I was forty-five, I decided to become an "American writer living abroad." Poisonous Kiss, which is my first translation of my own work, gives me that status.
Andras Totisz's translation from English to Hungarian of Michael Cunningham's The Hours is the published Hungarian edition. The Hours is published by Ulpius-ház, Hungary's publisher of the year in 2002.
Andras Totisz's next book The Legend of the Other World is also published by Ulpius- ház and will be presented in April at the Budapest Book Festival.
Andras Totisz has a website called "Olvass bele,"which means, literally translated, "Have a dip into the book" or not so literally, "Take a look."
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