As the book opens, Flower George is found dead and Police Sgt. Mace St. John is investigating his murder. In plainclothes and impersonating a seedy john, he tries to pick up Munch in a bar. He manages to draw her into conversation about Flower George and then realizes that their relationship was dramatically more pathetic than even the most dysfunctional father-daughter one. Munch's survival instincts finally kick in and she exits the bar via the ladies restroom.

Mace, having decided that Flower George was scum, doesn't bother giving chase. He assumes that Munch will be picked up soon enough, anyway. He has other crimes to solve, including one interesting case in which only one arm is discovered. Presumably the remainder of the body is a corpse and, with some ingenuity, Mace finds the other parts. When forensics match the bullet found in Flower George with those found in the dismembered corpse, Munch rises to the top of his wanted list.

Meanwhile Munch is on the run and heads to the country. Having decided it is time to "put down," which is the street vernacular for quitting drugs, she is coping with withdrawal from heroin, as well as creating a new identity.

She finds a job as an auto mechanic and is getting along better than I would have thought possible when she hears from her old boss that Mace is really looking for her. It seems that all that Mace wants is to know how she obtained the gun she used on Flower George (which, to say the least, assumes a lot).

The plot is not what drives this novel. Although clever in places it is occasionally uneven and sporadically intense. If you haven't done drugs, attended AA meetings, contracted a venereal disease or been arrested multiple times, then it is possible that you will feel like a voyeur as you read this book.

Examining the dark side where Munch lives is the powerful force that may keep many readers turning the pages of No Human Involved.

--Thea Davis