You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Kills You

Title: You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Kills You

Author: Robert J. Randisi aka Lew Baines aka Tom Cutter aka Spenser Fortune aka Robert Lake aka Paul Ledd aka W. B. Longley aka Joseph Meek aka Joshua Randall aka  Cole Weston aka J.R. Roberts aka Jon Sharpe

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Series: Rat Pack Mystery, Bk 4

ISBN: 9780312376437

Pages: 274 + Author's Note

Obtained: Library copy

Comments:

It's been awhile since I've read this series.  I read the first three books, Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime, Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die, and Hey There (You With the Gun in Your Hand) back in 2010.  I'm not sure why I stopped, but when I decided to participate in the Historical Mystery Challenge 2013, and learned that books through the 60s counted, I knew I needed to start back up again.

Some books just have a certain feel that just draws me.  I mentioned this when I posted on the first three books in this series, but it holds true for this one as well.  I think it might be the narrator that is cool/smooth and yet earnest all at once.  Eddie G. wants to help his friends and he doesn't take well to them being in hurt.  But he can fit right in with celebrities that make other people stumble and stutter with hero worship, and after a brief adjustment he's all chill.

Anyway, this time around Eddie G. is asked by the Rat Pack to help with their fragile friend, Marilyn Monroe.  Now I'm going to say something that makes me sound utterly ignorant, but I know practically nothing about Marilyn.  But now that I've read this I'm tempted to watch a movie and learn more.  Now whether that be a movie she's been in (cuz they are listed left and right throughout the book) or something about her I'm not sure.  We'll see.

Book 5 in this series is I'm a Fool to Kill You.  Hopefully I get to reading it sooner than the years it took me to get to this one.

Hey There (You with the Gun In Your Hand)

Title: Hey There (You with the Gun In Your Hand)

Author: Robert J. Randisi

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Copyright Date: 2008

Print Date: December 2008

ISBN: 9780312376420

Pages: 256

Series: 3rd of the Rat Pack Mystery series



Book Description (from dust jacket):

It's 1961 and Las Vegas is still the place to be. Eddie Gianelli, pit boss at the Sands Casino, now considers the Rat Pack his friends. And this time, his friend Frank Sinatra wants him to help Sammy. Someone has an embarrassing photo of Sammy and wants $25 grand for it. All Eddie has to do is make the pay-off and collect the photo. Easy, right? But at the rendezvous, in place of a blackmailer, Eddie finds a dead body greeting him. Pretty soon Eddie and New York torpedo Jerry Epstein are up to their elbows in bodies. There's a double-cross going on. Could the presence of the Secret Service mean that JFK is somehow involved?

Celebrity cameos by Buddy Hackett and Marilyn Monroe add to the glamour. The stars are out, and it's up to Eddie to see that they don't fall from the sky.

Comments:

It's been over a month (closer to two) since I read this, so my impressions aren't clear. I do know, however that I've enjoyed this series overall, that I enjoyed this book in particular, and just reading the synopsis as I filled it in above reminded me that I need to look into getting the 4th book in the series.

Part of what makes this book enjoyable is the atmosphere. Even I can feel like I'm in 1960 Vegas. (This is important because I don't really visualize when I read. I can hear and feel it, but descriptions don't usually do me much good, as I rarely see it.) Another part is knowing that while the story is fictional, many of the characters were real people. All you have to do is read the Author's notes and bibliography to know Mr. Randisi made an effort to make the story as real as possible.

Note: The author mentions in the Author's note that the nephew of "Eddie"'s boss Jack Entratter (that's the boss, not the nephew), actually contacted him after the first book was published. How cool is that?

Luck be a Lady, Don't Die

Title: Luck be a Lady, Don't Die

Author: Robert J. Randisi

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Copyright Date: 2007

Print Date: December 2007

ISBN: 9780312360436

Pages: 262

Series: 2nd in the Rat Pack mystery series



Note: The cover of the copy I read actually has a quote in the upper left corner.

"A Terrific yarn.

Sinatra would have loved it."

—LARRY KING

Book Description (from dust jacket):

Vegas, 1960. Gamblin', drinkin', and everybody's misbehavin'.

Six months ago, while they were filming Ocean's 11, the Rat Pack needed Eddie Gianelli's help to track down the mug who was sending threatening letters to Dino. Now they're back for the premiere and it's Frank who needs Eddie's help. Seems a babe he was planning to meet in Sin City took a powder — leaving behind her luggage and a stiff in the bathtub. She's on the lam, and it's up to Eddie to find her and figure out if she's a victim or a killer.

Once again Eddie teams up with his P.I. buddy, Danny Bardini, and the Jewish New York torpedo, Jerry Epstein, who never met a pancake he didn't like. Together they scour the neon streets, smoke-filled lounges, casinos, and seamy back alleys, dodging bodies and thugs with guns. But when Sam Giancana arrives on the scene, Eddie starts to wonder if he's going to be able to keep himself out of jail — and alive.

Celebrity cameos spice up the action, and Mo Mo Giancana brings a dark presence to the story. Once again, Randisi, the man Booklist says "may be the last of the pulp writers," gives readers a tour de force of bright lights, hot dice, and drop-dead-gorgeous dames in this second novel in the exciting, acclaimed series.

Comments:

I've been looking forward to reading this one. I love the song Luck be a Lady, I enjoyed the first book, and I like the feel of this kind of book.

While I was reading the story, I kind of saw it in black and white with flashes of bright color. Kind of because I'm not really a visual reader (that's why I'm not big on lengthy descriptions). At other times I found myself recalling locations I saw when I visited Vegas and trying to imagine what it might have looked like 50 years ago.

Anyway, I hope to read the 3rd book fairly soon.

Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime

Title: Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime

Author: Robert J. Randisi

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Copyright Date: 2006

Print Date: November 2006

ISBN: 0312338627

Pages: 274

Series: 1st of the Rat Pack mysteries




Book Description (from dust jacket):

Las Vegas, 1960

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford are the Kings of Cool — the Rat Pack. Ocean's 11 is their first movie together and they have taken Sin City by storm — filming during the day and cavorting onstage at the Sands Casino at night. It's clear not everyone is charmed, however, when Dean begins receiving anonymous threatening letters.

Eddie Gianelli, also called Eddie G., is a pit boss at the Sands. After twelve years, he's got the whole town wired. But he's still surprised when Joey Bishop drops by his table and invites him to meet with Frank in the Rat Pack's private steam room. Frank asks Eddie to find out who's been sending the threats, as a favor to him and Dean.

Eddie wants to politely decline, but caught between his boss, Jack Entratter's, not-so-subtle nudging and being utterly starstruck by Dino, he agrees to look into it. He gets help from his P.I. best friend and a Jewish torpedo from Brooklyn. A few dead bodies and bruised ribs later, he remembers why he was reluctant. In a city of gamblers, Eddie has become the highest roller of all. The game is murder, and the stakes just may be his own life.

Robert J. Randisi, the man Booklist claims "may be the last of the true pulp writers," takes his readers on a vivid, neon-lit tour of back rooms, bars, and famed gambling dens of the desert mirage that was — and still is — Las Vegas. Broads, blackjack, and bourbon flow. Celebrities, from John F. Kennedy to Angie Dickinson, strut in and out of this amazing first in a series that Rat Pack fans and crime fiction lovers will not want to miss.

Comments:

I was browsing the local library and saw a copy of a book called Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die. I loved the title (I love the song. I first heard Luck be a Lady while watching the water show in front of the Bellagio.) and decided to read it. Then I discovered it was the second in a series. So of course I had to find the 1st book first.

I do have to say I know nothing about the (real) "Rat Pack." I've heard of Sinatra, and I know he was a singer, but that's about it. I haven't even heard of the other guys until this book. For instance, I missed the meaning behind the title (I read on Armchair Interviews that Dean Martin — the Rat Pack member with the original problem to be solved — was responsible for a song called Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime). So the entire time I was reading this, I was trying to figure out which tidbits were true and which were there to help the mystery along (and, apparently, missing details).

It was an enjoyable read, and once I've done some research and know what's true, it'll have been an informative one as well. It does have some hard language. The were some details about racial attitudes. And the women were pretty much objects/things. I will be re-checking out Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die to read Eddie's next mystery with the Rat Pack.