Oct 3 2011
Little Elvises (The Junior Bender Series) by Timothy Hallinan
As anyone who has trolled for cheap e-books knows, you often get what you pay for. There is a reason there are thousands of $.99 books on Amazon and other sites. They have to be priced low or no one will read them. Are there some gems amongst them? Sure, and there is always the occasional promotional offer from publishers that means a favorite author at a low price. But let’s be honest, even in this new world of publishing many self-published books just aren’t that good.
But what if a best-selling and award-winning novelist decides to write and sell a series on his own? That is another kettle of fish entirely. Which brings us to Timothy Hallinan‘s Junior Bender series.
I am a huge fan of his Poke Rafferty series and so was interested to see how he handled this new series available only in the electronic format. The first book, Crashed, was great fun so I was hoping the second would cement that reaction and mean another series to enjoy.
Well, Little Elvises didn’t let me down. It was another enjoyable romp through Los Angeles with a memorable cast of characters, Hallinan’s dry and wry sense of humor, and a twisting plot that leaves you rushing to figure out the mystery at the heart of the story.
Hallinan descirbes the story this way:
[A] Los Angeles thriller-with-a-laugh-track about old-time rock-and-roll, the Philly mob, missing persons, the world’s oldest still-dangerous gangster, and a terrifying if somewhat hapless hit man named Fronts. And a whole bunch of other stuff.
Depp skewers the film industry with relish in his brilliantly comic follow-up to Loser’s Town (2009). PI David Spandau, who specializes in serving Hollywood’s elite, takes on the unenviable task of guarding aging actress Anna Mayhew, “Oscar winner and onetime tabloid fodder,” whose career is in decline, but she’s still glamorous enough to have attracted a stalker, weirdo Vincent Perec. Spandau, a rugged ex-rodeo rider and former Hollywood stunt man, reluctantly agrees to accompany the sexy, foul-mouthed Mayhew to Cannes, where she’s to serve as a judge at the famous film festival. Sharply drawn supporting characters, including Special, an opera loving pimp, and a slew of movie stars, agents, and directors, enliven the lavish, ludicrous events at Cannes. Fans of 
Private investigator David Spandau, an ex-stuntman familiar with the ins and outs of Hollywood—a smart, tough, and wickedly funny observer of la vie L.A.—finds his patience almost sapped when he’s hired to protect actor Bobby Dye from a blackmailing scheme gone wrong. Dye—young, brash, and on the verge of becoming a major star—has been set up by gangster Richie Stella, a nightclub owner and drug dealer with dreams of becoming a Hollywood producer. And he has a movie perfect for Dye. Problem is, it’s the worst script anyone’s ever read. But Richie is not easy to say no to, and when he retaliates, the game becomes deadly for more than a few of its players.
