Night of the Toads(1971)

Michael CollinsDennis Lynds

NUDE ACTRESS VANISHES
NEW YORK. Anne Terry, 22, actress and model, who made headlines when she appeared nude for a whole act in a banned production at the New Player’s Theater, was reported missing late last night.
The disappearance of the curvy actress was reported by her sister, Sarah Wiggen, of 29 West Seventy-sixth Street, who told police her “sexpot” sister vanished last Thursday from her West Tenth Street apartment.
 
The one time Dan Fortune met Anne Terry, she made a memorable impression on him. She was not only gorgeous, but she radiated a bold spirit, the kind that signaled bravery and honesty, and he admired that. Reading about her disappearance in the morning newspaper, he remembers with disgust how Ricardo Vega, the Broadway impresario, had verbally humiliated her when she tried to reignite their affair. Vega is “Rey” Vega to anyone who claims to know him well – El Rey, the King. He’s handsome, rich, and powerful, and he always gets his way.
Sitting there, holding the newspaper, Fortune feels a tide of hot jealousy sweep through him. Rey has set his sights on another beautiful actress – Martine Adair, the woman Fortune loves, and his lover. Until now, she’s resisted, and Fortune wants to protect her from the power plays that Rey is known for. Fortune has something going for him, too. He’s a private detective, seasoned, and angry. If Rey had something to do with Anne Terry’s disappearance, Fortune will find out, and he’ll use what he knows to stop the bastard from hurting Marty.
Unfaltering suspense and vivid characterizations make this tale of the 1970s theater world in New York riveting. Here is an understanding of human weaknesses, a feeling for life in a great city, and an illuminating examination of the values we all live by that give this novel its unusual power.

“Tough, believable.” – San Francisco Examiner

“Really moving ... emotional soundness without sentimentality.” – San Francisco Chronicle

“[Lynds] handles an excellent and complex plot with ease.” – The Washington Star

“In the American private-eye tradition of Chandler, Hammett, and Macdonald.” – The New York Times Book Review