Product Description

Quinn, a former investigative reporter who got burned by a source two years ago, teams up with sultry Jen Takamura to find a killer amidst the decadent streets of Hollywood. By the author of The Horse Latitudes. Reprint. NYT.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162308 in Books
• Published on: 1994-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback

From Publishers Weekly
A burned-out reporter in L.A. investigates the murder of an old friend in this noir tale by the author of The Horse Latitudes . BOMC and QPB alternate in cloth.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The suspense begins when Quinn's friend Andy is found dead after revealing to Quinn that he has observed a murder. The victim is a TV producer who was trying to blackmail a well-known talk-show host. Quinn is a reporter working for a celebrity magazine, and soon he and photographer friend Jen find that they have become the hunted, as the murderer tries to eliminate all witnesses. Along the way, author Ferrigno ( Horse Latitudes , LJ 2/1/90) creates some very interesting characters, including a former actor turned politician and an aging Hollywood radio commentator. With a strong plot and plenty of action, Ferrigno has fashioned an enjoyable novel. Recommended for general fiction collections.
- Marion F. Gallivan, Villa Maria Campus, Gannon Univ., Erie, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Good Suspense, a bit weak overall
This was my introduction to Ferrigno's books, and I expect that his later efforts will get better. He dragged out a minimal mystery with a lot of good characterization. He was able to sustain the suspense - not of whodunnit, but rather of whydunnit. I read through it quickly, which means it was written well enough to sustain my interest.

Hip, glamor and sleaze
Brimming with Southern California hip, glamor and sleaze, Ferrigno's second novel (after "Horse Lattitudes") features burnt-out journalist and divorced father, Quinn, now working for SLAP magazine, the latest in tabloid slick.

Quinn's old friend Andy, dealer in stolen gadgetry, stumbles on a murdered TV producer - and is in turn murdered. But Andy's apparent suicide allows police to close the case and Quinn is on his own.

Well, almost. His sidekick, Jen Takamura, a sultry, mid-twenties, Japanese American photographer with green eyes, a fearless disposition and a corvette, sticks with him as they paw through the rubbish of Hollywood secrets, pursuing whispers of motive into the cushy enclaves of talk-show superstar Sissy Mizzell and her venerable husband, a Lorne Greene type with aspirations to be governor.

The narrative segues from Quinn to the increasingly deranged murderer so the reader already knows who and almost why. This does not detract from the page-turner pace but it does require Ferrigno to come up with a bang-up twisty ending. He does not. And female readers may find themselves giggling over the exotic Jen who could not exist outside the rarified air of male fantasy.

Not good
Written with all the realism, originality and character development of a soap opera. Fortunately, also with the suspense of a decent thriller. But the mystery is sustained only by vague hints of X-rays that are hardly connected to the action, the romance develops with utter predictability and the ending can hardly be called original or surprising. Final score: full marks on the suck-o-scale.