Product Description

The nation is wrapped up in postwar Commie paranoia as Nathan Heller follows a lead from Washington, D.C. to a strange place called Roswell....

Majic Man is...

"A clear homage to Collins's literary hero, Mickey Spillane. Four stars!"-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

"A typically intelligent, witty and exciting examination of a real-life mystery."-Booklist

"A unique story with which to entertain his readers. Recommended."- Abilene Reporter-News

"Suspense coupled with an ingenious take on a pop-historical touchstone...refreshingly gritty."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #525030 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-01
• Released on: 2000-08-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Paranoia overruns rather than creeps into Chicago PI Nathan Heller's 10th historical case (Flying Blind, etc.). In 1949, longtime client James Forrestal, the outgoing U.S. secretary of defense, believes himself the target of Communist forces within the federal government who have him under personal and electronic surveillance. He hires Heller to prove it shortly before his enforced resignation, afraid that "I've betrayed my country by trying to serve it." Forrestal is being watched by a number of parties who want to exploit Heller's proximity and keep a lid on some undefined intelligence. Conspiracies nest like Russian dolls, involving the U.S. government, the Haganah (the underground Zionist defense organization), a ruthless national columnist and the famous 1947 incident in Roswell, N.M., where a UFO allegedly crashed. The lunatic effect is not lost on Heller, who muses: "Weren't Commies, Zionists, and Nazis enough? Must I add spacemen to the list?" Collins overloads the book with references (Sinatra, Truman, Capone). He needn't have bothered. Heller possesses a refreshingly gritty underside, reflected in a past that encompasses a stay in a psychiatric ward, perjury and sensitive casework for the highest levels of society and government. There's magic of a literary kind here: full-bore suspense coupled with an ingenious take on an overworked pop-historical touchstone. (Sept.) FYI: Two previous novels in the Nathan Heller series, Damned in Paradise and Stolen Away, have won Shamus Awards for Best Novel of the Year.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Set in 1949, this tenth novel in the series combines politics and mystery as Nathan Heller, a Chicago detective, attempts to find out who wants a Washington, DC, politician dead and why the case may be connected to UFO sightings in Roswell, NM. Essential for series fans.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
It's 1949, and Secretary of Defense James Forrestal summons Nate Heller, president of Chicago's A-1 Detective Agency, to Washington for a private audience. Forrestal, who hired Collins a decade earlier to allay his wife's fear that the Reds were out to get her, now fears for his own life. The danger arises from an incident in Roswell, New Mexico, two years earlier in which an aircraft crashed under mysterious circumstances. Although the government initially characterized the craft as a flying saucer, later statements strongly contradicted that interpretation. Heller concludes that something very suspect went on at that remote New Mexico air base. A beautiful nurse on duty the night of the crash may have critical information, but she suddenly vanishes, and Forrestal subsequently commits suicide. But Heller is determined to take the case to the end. This eleventh entry in this stellar series--seven have been nominated for the Shamus Award--is a typically intelligent, witty, and exciting examination of a real-life mystery, and the explanation offered for the events at Roswell is entirely plausible. Wes Lukowsky

Customer Reviews

another journey to the past with Nathan Heller
I love the Nathan Heller Series. I find the blend of fiction with actual events to be great reading. The research into the past that Collins does makes the books totally credible. He is an author on my buy in hardcover list.

In this book we are taken to Roswell, and we follow Nate while he investigates the UFO rumors. As usual, we get to meet some real people from the past, and it's great fun.

Nate is a man's man, and a stereotypical PI of the times. And reading it is a real joy. And the beauty of this series is that you can read it out of order.

So don't wait, dive in!!!

Jon

Excellent historical mystery
In 1949, a weary Secretary of Defense James Forrestal knows he must resign, but before he does, he hires his long term friend, private investigator Nathan Heller. Forrestal wants Nathan to determine if communist elements of the federal government have targeted him for special surveillance and perhaps intend to murder him.

Nathan begins his inquiries that lead him to the Majestic Twelve, a strange but deadly militia with a conspiratorial plan. Other radical groups with specific agendas also surface. However, the investigation takes a wild twist as the alleged UFO incident at Roswell, New Mexico keeps surfacing. As Nathan tries to figure out what the threats to Forrestal have to do with an alien spacecraft, he runs into silence and roadblocks. It is obvious that someone want him to drop the case.

MAJIC MAN is a superb entry in the wonderful Heller historical mystery series. The intermingling of real persona and events within a fast-paced story line brings home the paranoia that shaped the toddler years of the baby boomers. The Roswell theory developed by Max Allan Collins is plausible and should interest individuals who devour any reference to 1947 New Mexico. Mr. Collins will probably attain best seller status as well as critical acclaim and awards for his tenth Heller tale.

Harriet Klausner

Another fine entry in the Heller saga
Nate Heller may have been at his best in the gangster era Chicago, but he's aging well and still coming up with imaginative "solutions" to the great historical mysteries he gets involved with. I just hope Nate has reason to be in Dallas in November 1963, he should be able to come up with a good story on that conspiracy.