Hot Fudge [Hardcover]

Anthony Bruno (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2000

Loretta Kovacs and Frank Marvelli, the fugitive-hunting heroes of Devil's Food and Double Espresso are back in another sexy, savvy yarn of lowlifes on the lam -- and the quirky characters who hunt them down.

Partners -- and lovers at last -- Frank and Loretta usually bust parole violators for the New Jersey Jump Squad. But their off-hours relationship runs into a couple of curvaceous speed bumps in the form of Vissa (short for Elvissa) Mylowe, a fellow PO and former flame of Frank's who is just too out-an-out irresistible for Loretta's piece of mind. When Vissa "borrows" Frank to help her track down a notorious career criminal who has surfaced in San Francisco, Loretta can't help trailing the pair all the way to California, just to keep an eye on them.

'Frisco is a long way from Jersey, in more ways than just miles, and Loretta and Frank soon find themselves in a sticky, tricky imbroglio involving a murderous menage a trois, a bisexual Chinese dominatrix, the I Ching, and the secret ingredient in Elmer Fudge Whirl ice cream.

Can a spanking new romance, and old-fashioned street smarts, survive the New Age twists and temptations of California? Or will Loretta's heart -- along with the rest of her vital organs -- be ground up into dogfood?

Hot Fudge is a delectable, non-fattening criminal confection that will leave your mouth watering for more.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A trio of detectives chase a corrupt ice cream magnate from New Jersey to San Francisco in Bruno's third adventure featuring New Jersey Jump Squad partners Loretta Kovacs and Frank Marvelli. Kovacs and Marvelli quickly couple up as the story opens, but their romantic union is immediately threatened by the presence of the gorgeous Evissa Mylowe, a fellow officer whose history with Marvelli comes into play when the two are assigned to a case. That case involves Ira Krupnick, a former player in the drug trade who skips bail after a series of violations and heads off to San Francisco, leaving Marvelli and Mylowe to track him down, with a jealous Kovacs hot on their heels. The investigation focuses on Krupnick's new identity as part-owner of an ice cream company, a Ben & Jerry's-style outfit whose showcase flavor features a suspiciously addictive secret ingredient. But much of the investigation is a flimsy excuse for a nonstop series of flirtations involving the romantic triangle of Kovacs, Marvelli and Mylowe, with a side dose of sexual shenanigans starring Krupnick's bisexual girlfriend and his other libidinous interest, a Chinese dominatrix who imprisons Marvelli in her dungeon. Psychopath Krupnick's edgy life as a career criminal lends the novel a hint of grit, but the silliness of the story line makes it tough to take seriously his efforts to kill the three detectives. The book's strength is the chemistry between Kovacs and Marvelli, and Bruno uses his flair for lascivious scenes and wisecracking dialogue to milk their relationship whenever possible. His fast-moving prose style makes for an easy read, but the sugary, cotton-candy plot keeps this title in the category of light summer novelty. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

New Jersey parole officers Loretta Kovacs and Frank Marvelli are back on the road, this time in pursuit of career criminal Ira Krupnick, who dropped out of sight years ago. Also on the trail is another parole officer, sexy Vissa Mylowe, who would love to replace Kovacs as Marvelli's lover. The Krupnick they think they've drawn a bead on is really onetime ice-cream mogul Arnie Bloomfield, who "sold" his identity to Krupnick in an effort to start a new life far from the world of Fudge Ripple. So the real Ira Krupnick, career bad guy, is the face on the ice-cream cartons. Vissa, Loretta, and Frank troop out to corporate ice-cream headquarters in San Francisco, where they run afoul of Ira and his dominatrix. Bruno plays the Kovacs-Marvelli series strictly for laughs and hits the mark with remarkable accuracy, launching well-aimed barbs at everything from designer ice cream to corporate culture to sexual fetishes. Fans of comic mysteries should add Bruno to their must-read list, alongside Laurence Shames and Janet Evanovich. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (August 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312866518
• ISBN-13: 978-0312866518
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,787,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anthony Bruno is the author of the non-fiction books, THE ICEMAN: THE TRUE STORY OF A COLD-BLOODED KILLER and co-author of THE SEEKERS: A BOUNTY HUNTER'S STORY with Joshua Armstrong, which was nominated for an Edgar Award. IMMORTAL MONSTER is a Crimescape Kindle Single about his experiences with hitman Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski.

He is also the author of the crime novels SEVEN (based on the Brad Pitt-Morgan Freeman movie), BAD GUYS, BAD BLOOD, BAD LUCK, BAD BUSINESS, BAD MOON, BAD APPLE, DEVIL'S FOOD, DOUBLE ESPRESSO, and HOT FUDGE.

His thriller, BLEEDERS, and Catholic-school coming-of-age novel, THE TEMPTATIONS OF ST. FRANK, are Kindle originals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ice Cream, Perverts, & San Francisco! Good Fun!, August 13, 2000

By 

Babs (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Fudge (Hardcover)

Anyone who has read Devil's Food and Double Espresso in the Kovacs/Marvelli series is in for the ride of their life with this third wacky installment about the lovable duo. In this episode, Marvelli is persuaded to go to San Fran with another parole officer, Vissa. Because of jealously and a concern for her ice cream addicted partner, Loretta Kovacs follows them.

It turns out to be a nightmare for both her and Marvelli(especially Frankie) Frankie ends up getting kidnapped by a group of S&Mers and is subjected to some torture. Loretta has to use all her smarts and Attitude to save him.

Boy is this book a treat. Literally too. The reader will be introduced to a new way of eating a hot fudge sundae, demonstrated by the dominatrix Sunny, with the unwilling help of Marvelli(I CANNOT GIVE IT AWAY, read it yourself), and the reader will also discover the secret ingredient of Elmer Fudge whirl. Meanwhile, we root on Loretta as time winds down on Frankie's life span, and she struggles to rescue him.

This book is hilarious. It has a dizty blonde in it, an unusual dog named Dragon, a Finnish lesbian massage therapist, a man who leaks, and other weirdos. Plus, there is a sex club in which Loretta infiltrates, and of course her attitude gets her in trouble.

Don't miss it! I bought this in hardback. And it was worth EVERY darn penny!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Book!, August 13, 2000

By 

Andrea Conway "Law of Attraction Business Coach" (Denver CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hot Fudge (Hardcover)

Loretta and Marvelli hit book #3 in top form. For starters, they're finally, reciprocally, in love. Anyone woman who's ever identified with smart, sexy and somewhat overweight Loretta and her seemingly hopeless crush on a co-worker who is not only sexy but also one of the few remaining truly nice guys on the planet will find herself cheering. But the two New Jersey "Jump Squad" officers soon have more to worry about than being caught making out in an empty cell at the Parole unit... When the usual hilarious plot complications set in, Marvelli is sent on assignment to San Franciso, but instead of taking Loretta with him, his partner is the ultimate sex vixen, Elvissa Mylowe. Loretta, wracked with jealous insecurity (can we relate?), decides to call in sick, don a wig and follow the two to San Francisco. There the story twists and snakes down into the more sordid and bizarre aspects of SF's extremely alternative sex scene, as the three pursuers race to track down cruel and creepy Ira Krupnick, crook-turned-gourmet-ice-cream-manufacturer, who's screwing two women--Dorrie, his business partner's wife,and Sunny (one very hard-hearted dominatrix with a well-trained, vicious dog and a fully equippped S&M dungeon). The plot is as rich as the book's title, and the pace is fast: I ate -- er, read-- it all in one sitting--and a single paragraph can travel from sadistically sordid to funny to painful to heartwrenching. Bruno keeps up the suspense throughout and also delivers an answer to the age old question, in which part of the body does a man's brain really live?