Hooked

"Hooked" is a lusty roman a clef that juxtaposes two evils--Baltimore's randy Block and Maryland's comic-opera politics. Along the gutterscape there are bribes, payoffs, murders, small-time hoods and big-time operators, a hooker who kept a diary, a police narcotics captain who supplied the stripper with heroin, a snitch who died with a very private part amputated and sewn into his mouth, a gambling overlord who disappeared mysteriously, a governor who had a craving for dice, a manic city editor and other assorted bimbos, misfits, trenchermen, ladies of the night and accidental tourists and the ubiquitous Richard Dart, ace hunting-dog reporter and all-around wiseacre. Add to the mix the mob's attempt to takeover the Block that turned into a gangland misfire.

No question. The star of "Hooked" is the colorful Block, where Gypsy Rose Lee, Lily St. Cyr, Ann Corio and Sally Rand cavorted in their flowing silks and boas and Phil Silvers and Bob Hope displayed their vaudevillian antics.

The Block is a Baltimore institution, the city's erogenous zone. Ask any military man who's ever had a 72-hour pass in Baltimore. "Hooked is a romp. It's fun. It's raunchy, not deliberately so, but just sassy enough to keep the gritty metaphor flowing.