The Hunting Club

New York: Doubleday, 1977. AB4 - A first edition (stated with complete numberline) hardcover book in very good condition in very good dust jacket. Dust jacket has small bend on front, light discoloration, and light shelf wear. Book has a message from editor, light discoloration, and light shelf wear. A novel of suspense. Although not marked in any way, this copy comes from the personal collection of Otto Penzler, legendary editor and founder of the Mysterious Press, an award-winning icon in the genre. 9.5"x6.25", 262 pages. It's the dead of winter in New York City, too many weeks past Christmas. Five young men, who've known each other since childhood, are out on the town, celebrating a bachelor party. But after the strip bars and the clubs, after the champagne and cocaine, they end up in the apartment of a prostitute, and what they'd planned as innocent revelry- a boy's night out- turns to murder. In a single dark moment they discover that their only protection is the bond of male friendship they call… The Hunting Club. At first it seems unreal, like a dream. They are all privileged and successful, ambitious and smart, from fine upstanding families. They have wives and children, careers to protect. So they cover up the bloody deed. They attend the wedding. But when the nightmare seems to be over, a stranger steps out of the shadows. Someone has seen something. There is blackmail… and more murder. Their safe and insulted world is crumbling. And the ties of faithful friendship, of trust and honor- which once served to keep them strong- begin to unravel. Who can they trust now? The closer they examine themselves, the more clearly they see just how thin is the line between civilization and bloody barbarism, and how easy the descent. In the end, The Hunting Club is no longer their strength, but a fractured façade for murder and betrayal, propelling the five toward a moment when they must find out what really happened that fateful night of the bachelor party… and who must pay the price.. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.