From Publishers Weekly
Randisi (Arch Angels) provides a snazzy snapshot of a mythic 1960 Las Vegas in this enjoyable first of a new series. When Eddie Gianelli, former Brooklyn CPA turned Vegas pit boss, is asked to do a favor for Frank Sinatra, what's he gonna do, say no? Of course not. He wants to please his boss at the Sands casino, Jack Entratter, as well as the fabled blue-eyed Chairman of the Board, by catching the bozo who's sending Dean Martin threatening notes that have put the filming of Ocean's 11 in jeopardy. After two thugs break into Eddie's house and smack him around, though, things get complicated with further investigation turning up two dead dancers. Randisi's hilarious, pitch-perfect time capsule captures the swaggering era when the Rat Packers reigned in a city glittering with celebrities, gamblers, showgirls, gangsters and crimes that had to be solved without annoyingly clever CSI techs. (Nov.)
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Booklist
Eddie Gianelli, formerly of Brooklyn and known on the floor of the Sands casino in Vegas as Eddie G, knows everyone there is to know on the Strip. That's why, in early January 1960, during the filming of Ocean's Eleven, Joey Bishop approaches him with a request to help Frank Sinatra. Eddie can't imagine why a superstar with the resources of Sinatra would need help from a lowly pit boss, but with some pressure from the Sands' management, he agrees. Dean Martin is receiving threats--not death threats exactly but ominous nonetheless. Oddly, the crudely written notes are missing the unless-you-do-this-we'll-do-that element contained in most threats. Eddie is a reluctant investigator until two thugs warn him off the case with a minor beating and the promise of more to come. Eddie is mad now and gets madder as the bodies pile up, though he remains unconvinced that the murders and the threats to Dino are unconnected. The prolific and talented Randisi vividly re-creates the rough-and-tumble Vegas of four decades past and weaves appealing portraits of Frank, Sammy, Dean, Joey, and, yes, even Peter Lawford into the tale. The Rat Pack defined cool for a generation, and Randisi does them all justice in this wonderfully entertaining mystery. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
