Monday, September 14, 2015

Monday With Kaye: "The Fame Thief" by Timothy Hallinan (Reviewed by Kaye George)

Monday means it is time for Kaye George and her latest installment in the “Monday With Kaye” blog series. This week she is reviewing The Fame Thief by Timothy Hallinan. I have to confess that this one and earlier books in the series are still in my TBR pile. Probably time for a speed reading course…
 

The Fame Thief by Timothy Hallinan

This is Hallinan’s third entry in the Junior Bender series. The main character (not really a hero, because heroes are on the side of justice, right?) is a fun guy to hang out with. He’s a witty burglar who kept me reading, turning the pages as fast as I could.



As the story starts, he’s been summoned by Irwin Dressler, a mob boss who controls much of the Hollywood movie industry, is 93 years old, and dresses like a color-blind golfer. Dressler is not a man Junior wants to cross, given that the old guy is surrounded by muscle men and has the ability to send Junior swimming with cement boots firmly in place. The trouble is, Junior isn’t quite sure what his mission is.


He knows it involves Dolores La Marr, who, the last time she was seen in public, was one of the most beautiful women on the planet. Dressler adored her. That was in 1951. Pictures of her cavorting with gangsters in Las Vegas were enough, in those times, to bring her career to a screeching halt. Now, sixty years later, most of the people who had a hand in her downfall are dead, so Junior isn’t quite sure how to go about finding out who Dressler should wreak his revenge on. And why now? La Marr, when Junior interviews her in the luxurious apartment she never leaves, is now 83, obese, and seemingly content to hole up in her 12,000 square feet abode, surrounded by belligerent, protective Koreans, and a ghost of a previous occupant.


The more Junior finds out, the less sense it makes. But the threats to his daughter make enough sense for him to keep digging. Great page turner.



Reviewed by Kaye Georg Author of Death in the Time of Ice for Suspense Magazine

No comments: