Counting to Infinity (Jake Diamond, 3) - Hardcover

Abramo, J. L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312326505 ISBN 13: 9780312326500

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2004

Synopsis

San Francisco private investigator Jake Diamond is known for his stained neckties and stash of sour-mash whiskey; but Jake is more likely to be toting a worn paperback Classic novel than a handgun. More over-easy than hard-boiled, Diamond can be beaten up and knocked around without taking it too personally; but when his friends and loved ones are threatened, it's a different story.

When a Chicago thug known as Ralph Battle bursts into the office of Diamond Investigation waving a 44 magnum at Diamond and his trusty assistant, Jake has the distinct feeling that missing his lunch of fried calamari may not be the worst of his problems.

Jake accompanies Battle to Chicago at the mandatory request of Max Lansdale, a mob-connected attorney, who asks Jake to search for a pair of ghosts and will not take no for an answer. Pushed to the edge, Jake is ready to put his rusty .38 to use to get Lansdale off his back. Running between San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles, Diamond tries to stay one step ahead of the man who will have Jake killed with no remorse as soon as Diamond proves useless.

With the help of Joey Russo and a team of Jake's familiar cohorts, including Vinnie "Strings" Stradivarius, Darlene Roman and Sonny "The Chin" Badalamenti, Jake may be saved from becoming a murderer himself. May be. Trying to escape the wildest ride of his life; Jake is counting on luck, counting on a group of unlikely heroes, and counting to infinity.

About this title

About the Author

J. L. Abramo was born in Brooklyn, New York on Raymond Chandler's fifty-ninth birthday. A member of the Screen Actors' Guild, Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America, Abramo is working on his next novel.

Reviews

PI Jake Diamond, abetted by his Girl Friday, Darlene, sleuths back and forth between San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. in his third outing (after 2003's Clutching at Straws), a convoluted but routine mystery involving a decades-old crime and Mafia vendetta lists. After a nice opening line, parodying classic hard-boiled detective fiction—"The scent of deep-fried calamari floated in through my office window like an invitation to triple-bypass surgery"—Abramo soon loses narrative focus. The witty remarks (e.g., "If you want someone who can't ask a good question, get Larry King") simply disappear, and the tone grows serious. As the plan to topple the bad guy plays out, the first-person Chandleresque burlesque is dropped in favor of a detached third-person account more like a thriller novel. Fans of Mafiosi fiction should be the most satisfied.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312326505
• ISBN 13: 9780312326500
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240