John Manis, aka Johnny Manic--charming, stylish, impulsive, and reckless--is racked with guilt over the secret he doesn't dare tell. Marilyn Dupree, passionate and volatile, has too much money and the wrong husband. Johnny and Marilyn have a chemistry like nitrogen and glycerine, and that makes Detective Lou Eisenfall very uneasy.

A twisting tale of deception, murder, and psychological suspense, Johnny Manic is a throwback to the classic crime fiction of Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson, Dorothy Hughes, and Patricia Highsmith.