Boss of Hampton Beach -- Jed Power

When Jed Power was a kid, one of his father's good friends was Dan J. Marlowe, and Marlowe stayed with the family for a while when he was writing The Name of the Game Is Death.  He even named a character for Power.  Now Power is returning the favor in a series of crime novels with a protagonist named Dan Marlowe.

The first book in the series is Boss of Hampton Beach, and it finds Marlowe working behind the bar at the restaurant he used to own.  His addiction to cocaine has cost him not only his restaurant but his family.  He's clean now, but he's not through with cocaine because a local crime boss is importing a big shipment.  Things go wrong, the cocaine disappears, and everyone wants it (except Marlowe).  In the mix are the crime boss, his top gun, a bent DEA agent, the feds, and the local cops.  Crosses and double crosses abound, and of course Marlowe gets pulled into the action.

Boss of Hampton Beach is a fast-moving hard-boiled story and a fine start to the Dan Marlowe series.