Chicago Writers Association "Book of the Year -- Nontraditional Fiction" From the author of the #1 best-seller "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories" comes a hilarious thriller that establishes a new crime genre: Clown Noir. In Top Town, a ghetto full of washed-up circus lifers in the shadow of a big city, Rex Koko is a pariah. Yet this clown's brand of chaos helps him solve the most heinous crimes, as he tries to earn personal redemption. In "Honk Honk, My Darling", Rex is hired by an aging trapeze star to bring back his wayward wife. Every time Rex comes close to finding her, however, other aerialists come to gruesome and spectacular ends. Is Addie Carlozo a "black widow"? Is Rex really cursed with bad luck? Why is he being followed by those red-headed roustabout bastards, the Redd Brothers? And will "circus justice" intervene before the police do? Revenge, corruption and murder headline the bill in Top Town, where life comes 3 balls for a nickel. As the poet said, "Damn everything, but the circus "