Hey There (You with the Gun in Your Hand): A Rat Pack Mystery - Hardcover

Randisi, Robert J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312376421 ISBN 13: 9780312376420

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2008

Synopsis

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 instead. 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?

In this next installment, the Rat Pack is back in full swing. Celebrity cameos with Buddy Hackett and Marilyn Monroe add to the glamor. It's certain the stars are out, and it's up to Eddie to see that they don't fall from the sky.

About this title

About the Author

Robert J. Randisi is the author of the Nick Delvecchio and the Miles Jacoby series. He is the founder and executive director of the Private Eye Writers of America, creator of the Shamus Award, and the cofounder of Mystery Scene Magazine. He lives in Missouri.

Reviews

After rescuing Dean Martin in Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime (2006) and Frank Sinatra in Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die (2007), Vegas pit boss Eddie Gianelli and New York gunman Jerry Epstein reunite to save Sammy Davis Jr. in Randisi's breezy third Rat Pack mystery, set in the gambling hubs of Nevada (Tahoe, Reno, Vegas) in 1961. Davis, anxious to recover an embarrassing photo stolen from his home, hires Eddie to handle the exchange. When the transfer produces only a corpse, Eddie and Jerry end up in a lethal high stakes game with blackmailers, hit men, cops, federal agents and politicians—possibly including the newly installed president, JFK. Randisi shows both respect and affection for his historical characters as he highlights the antics of the Rat Park, who made the burgeoning gambling and entertainment empires of Nevada their playground. No doubt the Rat Pack could have used a real Eddie G. (Dec.)
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Eddie Gianelli, pit boss at the Sands Casino, has a reputation as the guy who knows everybody in 1961 Las Vegas. That’s why he’s become the go-to guy for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Joey Bishop, otherwise known as the Rat Pack. The last couple of years he’s helped Frank and Dean. This time Sammy needs help. Someone broke into Sammy’s house and stole a roll of film containing a single intimate photo of Sammy and his wife. Sammy asks Eddie to handle the money drop to the blackmailers. Eddie brings in old friend Jerry Epstein, a surprisingly complex Jersey hit man, to back him up. The initial drop goes awry with no live blackmailers and one dead body. Is the threat to Sammy over? Not quite. The third Rat Pack mystery expands on the series conceit of legendary show business figures using Eddie Gianelli to help them avoid scandal. This time there’s a political slant, too, which adds a welcome seriousness to this heretofore breezy series. Plot, dialogue, and characters are all up to veteran Randisi’s high standards. --Wes Lukowsky

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312376421
• ISBN 13: 9780312376420
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272