From the massive archive…
Having a patron die in your theater
isn't a good thing. Especially if all you show are comedy films. It isn't like
the movie scared the patron to death. Having a patron die because the popcorn
was poisoned is worse. For Mr. Elliot Freed, the death of Mr. Vincent Ansella
is a shock. After all, Mr. Ansella, who had occupied seat 18 of row S, is his
first dead customer. He isn't quite sure how to react.
A fairly common malady in his life.
Thanks to a novel that did okay and was successfully butchered into something
that doesn't remotely resemble his book by Hollywood, Eliot Freed has a bit of
money, and no desire to ever write anything again. He has no marriage either
though he does have a somewhat civil relationship with his ex, Sharon. They
have lunch once a week. Then there are the monthly alimony checks he gets from
her as well as the way he still feels when he looks at her.
While he doesn't have a car and instead
rides a bike, he does have a struggling theater that has few customers. Freed
owns the former "Rialto" with all its problems and has renamed it
"Comedy Tonight." He shows a comedy double feature consisting of a
one current film and an older title. Despite the efforts of "Young
Frankenstein" and "Count Bubba, Down-Home Vampire," Mr. Ansella
died and that isn't going to help ticket sales.
Neither is the fact that the local
police have to close his theater because it is now a crime scene. Getting it
back open on a steady basis isn't going to be helped by the fact that the
police soon discover that he has a pirating operation going on out of the
basement. It would be easy to blame his suddenly missing employee for
everything that has happened and something the local police seem perfectly
willing to do. Freed is sure that the employee, a film major at Rutgers, had
nothing to do with any of it and sets out to prove his innocence and save his
theater. Bumming a car when he needs one, Freed begins digging into the case
despite being warned off by everyone involved.
It would be easy to compare this novel
to the Aaron Tucker series and find it wanting. The humor of the
parental dynamic as well as Tucker's often strange adventures drives that
series and that sort of thing isn't present at all. Freed has no kids and
doesn't have a dog. While Tucker gets involved in strange stuff or things go
differently than expected, Freed is more of an everyday guy that just had
something happen to him that has to be dealt as best as he can. Tucker is a
writer and as such for those of us in the business, at whatever level, there is
a resonance in his amusing tales of the world of publishing. Freed has walked
away from writing and only briefly relates what happened to his novel and why
he has given up writing. Not to mention the fact that the Aaron Tucker
series often relies on the madcap in terms of humor and that certainly
isn't the case here.
But, this book isn't an Aaron
Tucker series novel and therefore should not be judged on that
standard. This book has to be judged on its own merits as will the series to
come. Comedically, while it does not have the explosive laughter moments for
this reader, it does have a number of amusing chuckle type moments as Freed
references cultural and movie items. Those that have a strong grounding in
comedy films will get considerably more out of the novel than those who do not.
While the book is somewhat predictable
with a large part of the resolution foreshadowed early on, there are enough
twists and a couple of nice surprises to keep readers highly entertained. The
book moves at a pretty good pace though it does stop occasionally for Freed to
summarize in depth what has gone on and that seemed a bit redundant and
excessive. Still, that is a minor quibble and did not really have a negative
impact on the book as it falls under more of a personal preference category.
Overall, the book is a pleasant read and a nice start to an interesting
character and new series. Next up in the series is It Happened One Knife
and that is currently scheduled to be released in July.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3XlTvu7
Kevin R. Tipple © 2008, 2017, 2024
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