Description:

From Publishers Weekly

Screenwriter Depp's inspired if uneven debut, the first in a new crime series, introduces Hollywood PI David Spandau, a former stunt man too old and beat up to work for the movies any more. Spandau's latest job is to protect film star Bobby Dye from the blackmail attempts of Richie Stella, club owner, drug dealer and Mafia player. Like everyone else in Hollywood, Richie has written a movie script, and he makes it clear to Bobby that the actor will star in the project or else a certain dark secret involving a dead underage girl will hit the headlines. As things get nastier, we meet various characters straight out of central casting—the beautiful single mom who works in one of Stella's clubs and dreams of escape; the career criminal who meets the good woman who will help him go legit. Where Depp shines is his insider's look at the intricate machinations and sordid players who really run the Hollywood machine. (Mar.)
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Rising Hollywood star Bobby Dye is being blackmailed by the reptilian, Mob-connected owner of Hollywood’s hottest nightspot for the rich and beautiful. Private investigator and former movie stuntman David Spandau has little interest in returning to the biz, especially after being insulted by the temperamental star, his pit-bull agent, and an arrogant producer, but he agrees after the star shows signs of humanity. There’s little mystery to this promising series debut, but it scarcely matters. So Cal, moviemaking, and the quirkiness of the supporting characters provide the appeal. Spandau prefers rodeoing to detecting. He’s engaging, but future books need to flesh him out. Dye careens between spoiled man-child and self-awareness. But the novel sparkles when the focus changes to a diminutive Irish lothario, a single mother who manages the hip nightclub, and a thoughtful but doomed hoodlum who hates L.A. Sadly, none of the three gets enough screen time. L.A. and the movies have long been fertile ground for crime fiction. If the author continues to create such vivid characters, this series will draw a loyal following. --Thomas Gaughan