Synopsis
Struggling writer Jack Dillon’s personal and professional life is falling apart…until he gets a lucrative gig writing the biography of TV comedy icon Walt Stuckey, who mysteriously walked away from Hollywood at the height of his popularity…and left his millions of fans wondering why for decades. Now Walt’s going to answer the tantalizing question, assuring that his biography will become a massive bestseller and Jack’s salvation. But when Walt is finally ready to tell Jack his big secret, things go terribly, unpredictably wrong, pushing the desperate author into kidnapping…becoming a fugitive chased by the police, the FBI, the news media, a crazed assassin, and Walt’s talentless & psychopathic son…just to finish the book. It’s a brutally original, crazy ride through California, Death Valley and TV history as Jack tries to solve the mystery and craft a perfect finale that doesn’t end with him going to prison… or to his grave.
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About the Author
Philip Reed is a former police reporter who turned to writing mysteries, non-fiction books, plays and screenplays. His latest novel, Off & Running, coming from Brash Books in 2015, is a darkly funny thriller about a desperate biographer who kidnaps his celebrity subject. We can only wonder how much of the novel was inspired by Reed's experience writing his first book, Candidly Allen Funt, an autobiography of the 1960s TV legend. Reed's first novel, the "car noir" thriller, Bird Dog, was nominated for the Edgar and Anthony awards and optioned by Hollywood seven times. His many other books include Low Rider, Marquis de Fraud, Free Throw, and In Search of the Greatest Golf Swing. He is currently at work writing A Piece of the Action, a non-fiction account of a year spent playing blackjack in casinos across the country with a professional card counter. He lives in Long Beach, California and is an editor at Edmunds.com.
Reviews
In this episodic romp from Edgar-finalist Reed (The Marquis de Fraud), struggling writer Jack Dillon gets the opportunity to collaborate on the bio of retired TV icon Walt Stuckey, but to finish the job he’s going to have to kidnap Walt from the aged star’s home in the Hollywood Hills and survive a gauntlet of bullets from California’s Mount Whitney to Death Valley. Since the actor’s narcissistic, bullying son, Garrett, obviously wants to control every facet of his father’s life and isn’t about to give Jack the break he needs, the desperate author grabs Walt and takes off. Along for the ride is Walt’s much younger romantic interest, Mary, who has her own agenda. In pursuit are the local badge and the feds, plus the almost cartoonish menace of Garrett—and the ex-military hit man Garrett hires. Jack’s writing problems sometimes slow the action, but once the hunt heats up, the plot is—to quote the tagline from Walt’s once hugely popular show—off and running. (Aug.)
Bizarre showbiz-family dysfunction offers plausibility to the wild plot, which ultimately involves media czar William Paley, Bebe Rebozo, and the dirty tricksters in the Nixon White House. Somehow it all works. Great fun.
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Off and Running
Published by
Cutting Edge Publishing, 2015
ISBN 10: 1941298710
ISBN 13: 9781941298718
Used
Paperback
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1941298710I3N00