CASTRATO

Collins’s one-armed PI Dan Fortune is up against the FBI, the CIA, and a ruthless family in this tautly crafted mystery. Brooding ex-teacher Frank Owen is searching for his immature kid brother, Billy, a frustrated John Wayne type involved with gun running in Central America.

When Frank’s worried ex-wife brings in Fortune to help solve the death of Billy’s shadowy Latin friend, shots fired at Fortune before he finds the body, and an attempt to murder Frank all hint that Billy’s latest mission of glory has put him in over his head.

As the action shifts from New York’s Chelsea district to cowboy country in California’s Santa Ynez Valley, Dan and Frank constantly talk about women and manhood. In fact, the real theme of this yarn is misplaced manhood, spotlighted in a procession of handguns, pit bulls, Mexicans, and even hand grenades.

The dialogue is crisp, and the ‘castrati’ of Castrato are well-wrought, memorable.”

— Wall Street Journal

“Fine work, crackling with excitement.” — Library Journal

“His best yet and about as good as the private eye novel gets.” — San Diego Herald Tribune

“Collins combines superb characters and excellent plotting to produce an exciting mystery.” — Booklist

“He explores the impact myths have on modern men and how that influences their relationships with women.... The title, Castrato, refers to what one major character insists is the result of men settling for the civilized life of wife, kids, and mortgages. Society, he sneers, gelds men. Fortune rebuts that argument, saying men and women can coexist peaceably.... taut, lean, entertaining.” — Courier-Post, Camden, New Jersey