Marching at the Chi Chi Club

By Tom Ardies

MARCHING AT THE CHI CHI CLUB is an irreverent, bloody-minded crime romp spawned by Tom Ardies' novels featuring the San Diego Police Dept.'s elite Squad 5, a.k.a SCUMB [for Sickos, Crackpots, Underwear & Mad Bombers]. The four books, in a police procedural series, were written under his pseudonym, Jack Trolley.In Marching at the Chi Chi Club, ex-cop Logan, tough, sensitive, steel-plate-in-the-head insecure, is in Folsum with two months to serve before his release. His best friend, Vinny Lombardo, a criminal mastermind and the reason he's in jail, gets blown to bits by a car bomb. Logan has always been in love with Vinny's widow, the hot, ravishing Adele. He figures she'll last a nanosecond on the open market. Escaping, Logan sneaks into Adele's home during the funeral, creating a romantic scene - roses, champagne, caviar and a Polish sausage - and gets in bed to await Adele. Vinny shows up instead. He faked his death. Vinny and Logan fight over Vinny's gun. Logan accidentally kills him - the second time. Adele thinks Logan did it on purpose and now it's all downhill.Meet Fogel, bipolar petty thief and pretend Jehovah's Witness who's not to be trusted, he'd fart in an elevator, blame the little kid next to him. Meet Guffin, an ass-kicking crooked cop and his partners, the self-righteous, Bible-spouting Diggs and the police department's token Indian, the murderous Buddy Brass. Meet recluse mobster Nick Armada and his bungling goons, Marcel and Ramon, his foul-mouthed girlfriend, Tangerine, and his revenge-seeking ex, Ginger, who marches instead of dancing at the Chi Chi Club and who tips Logan to Vinny's plot to steal $4 million from the drug-money washing machine that is Guardian Check Cashing. Meet Adele's pistol mother, Theresa, and Hooter- lover Cardew, who claims he couldn't pass a test for detective even though a prize pumpkin could pass, and meet Stutter, who really didn't drown, he just had a heart by-pass op after eating too many shrimp, and who now wants back in on the caper at Guardian. Meet Guffin's ever-smiling best friend Bob and a bevy of other star-crossed and improbable characters guided by the fates. It is written in the sand. Kismet.Tom Ardies is an accomplished and highly praised writer with ten published hardcover novels including Kosygin Is Coming, which was made into the movie Russian Roulette, starring George Segal. He had first screenplay credit.Critical acclaim for Ardies and Jack Trolley [his pseudonym] have appeared in major media."Will hold you spellbound...Ardies has a knack for writing sharp, tough, realistic taut thrillers to the last breathless second with considerable skill, humor and style. - New York Times Book Review"The biggest mystery is why Jack Trolley hasn't won an Edgar award yet." - Detroit Free Press"Profane and slam-bang. The hero is the kind of cop Bruce Willis has made into an American icon." -Cleveland Plain Dealer"Trolley is like a noir voice out of the past, fast-talking, sardonic...generating a great deal of suspense." Los Angeles Times"...one of the upcoming top fiction writers of our time." - Toronto Sun"...a nice edge of irony and wit. Unadulterated enjoyment." - Buffalo Evening News"Nonstop, madcap story telling delivers great escape reading...Trolley, in complete command of thick atmospherics, lights a long sparkling fuse of a plot and follows it all the way through to an explosive ending." Publishers Weekly"Superb!" Kirkus Reviews"A deft and entertaining writer." - Chicago Tribune"...leaves the reader breathless." Booklist from Coast to Coast"We cannot praise enough the succinct wit of Trolley's prose." - Toronto Star"...striking prose - by turns cryptic, jaudiced, and pessimistic - describes the gritty side of a rough world." - Library JournalTom Ardies is a former newspaperman and advertising executive. He lives in San Diego.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1463561113
• ISBN13: 9781463561116
• Release Date: July 2011
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"