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A nice young man is helping little old ladies with their groceries . . . then stealing their Social Security; an enormous ''ape man'' with a face like King Kong is robbing liquor stores; ''Jack the Stripper'' is leaving gas-station registers empty . . . and the attendants naked; a pretty Hispanic woman is killed and ethnic tensions are ready to explode; a little girl is mutilated; a cop is fatally shot.

Between the weather and the crime wave, Lieutenant Luis Mendoza - the family-man cop - finds shelter at home, knowing that even violence on the streets of Los Angeles eases up . . . eventually.

''A Luis Mendoza mystery means superlative suspense'' Los Angeles Times