Wonderland, A Novel [by] Joyce Carol Oates. New York: The Vanguard Press, Inc., [197l.] 512p.

A perceptive novel from the pen of one of America's outstanding contemporary writers, Wonderland follows the changes in Jesse as he develops from boyhood, haunted by the memory of his own narrow escape as his father murders his mother, sisters, and brother, to the adult Jesse, a renowned neurosurgeon determined to preserve the lives of all who seek his help. Set in New York State, Chicago, and Toronto, this is a probing novel that lays bare the personalities of Jesse and his associates, displaying the forces, real and imagined, that make them function.

Book Review Digest, 1972, p. 975.

No Place Like Home, [by] J. Bradford Olesker. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1976.] 185p.

A national sports hero turned psychopathic killer murders five residents of a north shore high-rise and terrorizes hundreds of others as Lieutenant David Colt of the Chicago Police Department and his staff in the Homicide Division stalk the man methodically through halls, stairwells, elevator shafts, and ventilation ducts in a desperate effort to catch him before he kills again.

Booklist, 3/15/1976, p. 1022. Kirkus, 12/15/1975, p. 1399. Library Journal, 3/1/1976, p. 742. N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/14/1976, p. 30. PublishersWeekly, 1/5/1976, p. 59-60.

Case of the Cop's Wife, A Gold Medal Original by Milton K. Ozaki. [New York and London:] Gold Medal Books, Fawcett Publications, Inc., [1958.] 141p.

Chicago police lieutenant Robert Fury takes leave from the force to help his pregnant wife as her confinement approaches. His leave ends unexpectedly when his wife is kidnapped and forced to drive the getaway car following a holdup of one of Chicago's major department stores. A thrilling race against time and police ensues as the robbers flee the Chicago area.

N. Y. Times Book Review, 9/14/1958, p. 35. Saturday Review, 9/13/1958, p. 36.

The Cuckoo Clock, [by] Milton K. Ozaki. Chicago [and] New York: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, [1946.] 261p.

Police Lieutenant Phelan, Professor Caldwell, and Bendy Brinks tackle a real puzzle in this, Ozaki's first novel. Their only apparent clues are a dead man, a knife wound, and a knife. Murder? All the doors and windows are locked from the inside. Suicide? The knife wound is in the victim's back. Some sharp thinking is required to solve this one. The scene is Chicago.

Book Review Digest, 1946, p. 632.

Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, by Richard Peck. New York, Chicago [and] San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, [1972.] 173p.

Carol Patterson, the middle daughter in a family of three, seems always to be in the middle of family conflicts. When Ellen, her older sister, becomes pregnant and goes to Chicago to a home for unwed mothers, it is Carol who bears the brunt of parental disappointment and becomes a stronger individual for her patience. The novel is set in a fictional central Illinois town called Claypits and in Chicago.

Kirkus, 8/15/1972, p. 949. Library Journal, 12/15/1972, p. 4080. N. Y. Times Book Review, 11/12/1972, p. 8-10. Publishers Weekly, 9/25/1972, p. 60.

Dreamland Lake, [by] Richard Peck. New York, Chicago, [and] San Francisco: Holt Rinehart and Winston, [1973.] 147p.

Once a popular amusement park, Dreamland, near Dunthorp, has long since been abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair. When thirteen-year-old school friends, Flip and Bryan, discover the partially decomposed body of a tramp in the weeds near Dreamland Lake, they become minor celebrities; and in an attempt to prolong the interest and excitement of the moment, they set into motion a chain of events that leads to additional deaths and the end of the boys' friendship. Local historians and residents believe the novel to be set in the Illiopolis area, although Dunthorp represents a fictionalized setting rather than an actual Illinois town.

Best Sellers, 8/15/1973, p. 234. Kirkus, 6/15/1973, p. 648. Library Journal, 11/15/1973, p. 3455. Publishers Weekly, 8/6/1973, p. 65.

The Executioner: Chicago Wipeout. New York City: Pinnacle Books, [1971.] 187p.

The eighth in a series of paperbacks concerning Mack Bolan, self-styled hit man waging a nationwide war against organized crime, Chicago Wipeout details Bolan's activities against the Mafia in a bold move to rid the city of its underground czars, while in a roundabout way, avenging his family's death.

Best Sellers, 11/1/1972, p. 366.

Blondes Die Young, [by] Bill Peters. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, [1952.] 240p. (Red Badge Detective)

The murder of show-girl Jane Nelson arouses little interest at city hall, since it has a calming effect on Chicago's restless underworld. Only one person, private detective Bill Canalli, cares who murdered Jane, but he seeks the killer with a vengeance that insures success.

Book Review Digest, 1952, p. 706.

A Dream of Kings, by Harry Mark Petrakis. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., [1966.] 180p.

Leonidas Matsoukas, Doctor of Wisdom and Inspiration, master counselor in palmistry, astrology, and omen analysis, writer of Greek poems on order, wrestling instructor, vocabulary tutor, and talent agent, might appear at first glance to be an insufferable reprobate. In the course of a day, Matsoukas eats breakfast in a restaurant knowing he has no money to pay, earns five dollars counseling an elderly Greek concerning matters of the heart, bets the money on a horse race, spends the evening playing poker, at last returning home to chide his mother-in-law and make love to his wife against her will. Matsukas' one virtue is his love for his invalid son. A Dream of Kings is the story of this man's attempts, fair and foul, to accumulate enough money for the plane fare to Greece, where the warm sun, he believes, will cure the child. A brave, determined man in spite of his faults, one can only admire him as he boards the plane, at last, the dying boy in his arms. Harry Mark Petrakis wastes few words in this powerful story of one man's struggle against the fate that life has dealt him. Set in Chicago's Greek sector, this novel presents a fascinating view of the life and customs of one segment of that city's population.

Book Review Digest, 1966, p. 948.

In the Land of Morning, a novel by Harry Mark Petrakis. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., [1973.] 290p

Old Avram Dalgounis believes the Rifakis family cursed, and to Father Naoum, the parish priest, that explanation seems as likely as any for the trouble and despair that haunt the unhappy clan. When Alex Rifakis returns to his Chicago home following a tour of duty in Vietnam, his father has recently died, his sister is hovering on the verge of madness, and his mother is consorting with her dead husband's bitterest enemy. Seeking respite from the conflict of previous months, Alex recognizes a kindred spirit in Father Naoum's daughter Ellie, a widow of the Vietnamese War, who offers him the understanding that his family cannot provide, and the love that he so desperately needs. In the Land of Morning is a novel of the 1970s, dealing boldly with contemporary social problems. Readjustment of the soldier to civilian life, alienation of youth, and changing sexual mores are recurring themes throughout the novel, along with parent-child conflicts, changing traditions, and family unity, which are standard themes with Petrakis. Although not Petrakis' best novel, In the Land of Morning is written with such compassion for his characters and understanding of his topic that the book holds an appeal for members of every generation.

Book Review Digest, 1973, p. 1019.

Pericles on 31st Street, [by] Harry Mark Petrakis. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1965. 213p.

Whether portraying a merchant protesting a raise in his rent, or a twenty-seven-year-old maiden fending off the suitors her drunken father brings home for her, Petrakis writes with a humor and pathos reminiscent of O. Henry. The stark simplicity of the language, the timeless quality of the people and the situations, the uncontrollable twist of fate, and the surprise ending are the major ingredients of which these excellent tales are made. Most are set in the Greek section of Chicago.

CONTENTS: Pericles on 31st Street.--The Miracle.--Courtship of the Blue Widow.--The Legacy of Leontis.--The Ballad of Daphne and Apollo.--Pa and the Sad Turkeys.--The Eyes of Love.--The Return of Katerina.--The Wooing of Ariadne.--Zena Dawn.--The Prison.--Matsoukas.--The Journal of a Wife-Beater.--The Song of Rhodanthe.--A Hand for Tomorrow.--The Passing of the Ice.

N. Y. Herald Tribune Book Week, 5/2/1965, p. 20. Booklist, 6/1/1965, p. 953. Kirkus, 1/1/1965, p. 26. Library Journal, 3/15/1965, p. 1351. N. Y. Times, 4/18/1965, p. M41.

The Waves of Night, and Other Stories by Harry Mark Petrakis. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., [1969.] 230p.

Four new and seven previously published stories comprise this second collection of Petrakis' short fiction, most of which is concerned with the residents of Chicago's Greek colony. Petrakis' characters--teen-agers, priests, prostitutes, widows, laborers, and free-loaders--are drawn with such precision and depth that each becomes an unforgettable experience for the reader.

CONTENTS: Rosemary.--The Sweet Life.--The Shearing, of Samson.--The Witness.--The Bastards of Thanos.--End of Winter.--The Victim.--Chrisoula.--Homecoming.--Dark Eye.--The Waves of Night.

Book Review Digest, 1969 p. 1034.

Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? a fictional memoir by John R. Powers. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, [1975.] 227p.

Following closely on the heels of his earlier novel The Last Catholic in America, this hilarious work treats in detail all the questions of major concern to Catholic boys of high school age. Taking up the education of Eddie Ryan as he enters Chicago's Bremmer Catholic High School in the early 1960s, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? sees him, not unscathed, through four years, from registration to commencement. Through it all, Eddie manages to maintain his innocent bystander status. He joins no clubs, plays no sports, manages to groan his way out of chorus, and successfully eludes all but a bare minimum of the knowledge to which he is exposed. Yet, Eddie Ryan leaves Bremmer possessing a liberal education. How he and his teachers accomplish the feat makes a delightful sequel to Powers' Last Catholic in America.

Kirkus, 8/15/1975, p. 978. Publishers Weekly, 8/25/1975, p. 291.

The Last Catholic in America, A Fictionalized Memoir [by] John R. Powers. New York: Saturday Review Press, [1973.] 228p.

A young Catholic turned cynic writes of his childhood on the south side of Chicago in a neighborhood called Seven Holy Tombs. Hardly realizing that there is a world beyond the seven cemeteries that surround the neighborhood, young Eddie Ryan attends parochial school, joins Cub Scouts, and acquires his real education in the alleys, streets, and vacant lots of the area as thousands of others have done before and since. As he reminisces--whether about his first day in school, his first communion, or his first sexual awareness--the author maintains a caustic aloofness that allows him to laugh heartily at himself and others. Yet, there is a trace of sadness--a sense of innocence lost--which pervades the book, leaving the reader in a pensive mood. The Last Catholic in America is an attempt to justify, or at least explain, the author's loss of faith. Through his explanation he has recalled a time--the 1950s--that has been ignored or forgotten by most fiction writers; and he has expressed a theme and mood that hold universal appeal, with a special attraction to those who remember growing up during that era.

Book Review Digest, 1973, p. 1046-7.