FLESH WOUNDS (A John Marshall Tanner mystery) [Paperback]

Stephen Greenleaf (Author)

Book Description

Series: A John Marshall Tanner mystery | Publication Date: February 1, 1997

"Marsh? It's Peggy." The words strike like lightning bolts into the life of John Marshall Tanner, reopening old wounds, rekindling old desires. The speaker is Peggy Nettleton, Tanner's former secretary and former lover, who left his life six years earlier in circumstances too painful to remember. Now Peggy lives in Seattle and is about to marry Ted Evans, a wealthy investment banker. But Peggy has a problem - Nina Evans, Ted's beautiful young daughter by a previous marriage, is missing. The young model has disappeared into Seattle's netherworld after posing for some nude photographs. Peggy's marriage can't go forward until Nina is found. Peggy calls on her old boss for help. From art galleries to strip clubs, from porn kings to computer wizards, Tanner trails Nina to her oppressor's lair. He will be tested as never before as he learns more than he cares to know about Peggy and the man to whom she is betrothed, and about the world of digital imagery and its capacity to generate electric evils.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Loneliness-how some manage it and how others are perverted by it-governs this assured 10th outing for San Francisco PI John Marshall Tanner, seen recently in Southern Cross. Tanner hurries to Seattle after an urgent call from his onetime lover, Peggy Nettleton, whose planned marriage to wealthy businessman Ted Evans is in jeopardy because Evans's daughter, Nina, a photographers' model, has vanished. Greenleaf alternates between Tanner's classically noir first-person narrative and the third-person account of Nina's plunge into the converging worlds of erotic art, pornography and virtual reality. Someone in Seattle is using digitally manipulated images to turn unsuspecting people into pornography subjects. When a photographer who abused Nina's trust turns up dead, Tanner's search takes on new urgency and leads to a dangerously warped and misogynist mogul. In Greenleaf's plausible high-tech exploitation scenario, Nina's danger becomes palpable. So is the worldly 50-ish detective's desire to help Peggy and perhaps rekindle their romance as his ruminations on the power of money, sex and security give rich character to an absorbing tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

San Francisco investigator John Marshall Tanner is sitting alone in his apartment drinking beer and watching television when he gets a call from former secretary and lover Peggy Nettleton. She'd left six years earlier, destination unknown. But the call isn't the one he wanted: Peggy doesn't need Marsh the lover, she needs Tanner the private eye. Her future stepdaughter, Nina, is missing. Peggy is engaged to a wealthy Seattle stockbroker, but he won't get married until his daughter is found. Tanner agrees to help, if only because he hopes to be able to rekindle Peggy's love for him. Nina turns out to be an extraordinarily beautiful young woman who earns her living as a nude model. When her image turns up in a particularly graphic Seattle show and when the photographer is found murdered, Tanner fears the worst. Though Nina felt superior to her peers, she inhabited a world of pornography, nude dancers, strippers, and johns--a world Tanner knows all too well. As the case progresses, Tanner discovers that Peggy's intended isn't quite what he seems and that long-ago family secrets, when coupled with a frightening new virtual-reality technology, can lead to heartache as well as death. The Tanner series continues to be among the most emotionally and intellectually challenging in the genre. Outstanding. Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; 1st Pocket Books Printing, March 1997 edition (February 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671007955
• ISBN-13: 978-0671007959
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful P.I. makes his way to Seattle, September 8, 1997

By 

Peter W. Sage (Medford, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: FLESH WOUNDS (A John Marshall Tanner mystery) (Paperback)

I really liked the book. It is a great followup to False Conception. Greenleaf's focus character, John Marshall Tanner narrates the story, and it is fun to read a first person account by a guy tough enough to be a P.I who is also thoughtful and intelligent. I would even add that Tanner seems sensitive, but then you would think Tanner is another Spencer, which he isn't. Tanner is smart but not smart mouthed, nice to women but doesn't go around quoting love poetry. Tanner is world weary enough to be able to make great observations and asides on Seattle life and culture, which is the best part of the book

4.0 out of 5 stars A Digital Porn Scheme, April 22, 2009

By 

Bonnie Brody "Book Lover and Knitter" (Port St. Lucie, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: FLESH WOUNDS (A John Marshall Tanner mystery) (Paperback)

This is another good mystery and page-turner in the Marshall Tanner series. Like all the other books in the Tanner series it is a fun and literate read. Tanner is a tough, literate, liberal and tongue-in-cheek guy.

The story line deals with a digital porn scheme and a young woman who gets sucked into its depths. Peggy Nettleton, Tanner's old flame, hires him to find her prospective step-daughter who is the victim that is caught up in this mess.

This is a fun read, several steps above the usual page-turners in this genre.