"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 Totisz tried out other professions. As a working man, he studied journalism and public relations, then history and adult education at Budapest ELTE University. His first published novel was followed by sixteen successful novels. Most of those were published additionally in countries other than Hungary.
One of those novels was the base of the Hollywood movie
Shadow Kill.
Totisz's translation from English to Hungarian of Michael Cunningham's
The Hours is the published
Hungarian edition.
Poisonous Kiss, is his first translation of his own work.
Andras Totisz's next book at Boson Books is
The Legend of the Other World. Published in a print
edition by
Ulpius-ház, it was launched at the Budapest Book Festival.
