Lee Goldberg: Watch Me Die

A really funny PI story
Every now and again I find a book that really makes me laugh - and this is one of them. It is dark and twisted, really funny with a quite unexpected ending.

Harvey Mapes (just as good a name as Forrest Gump) is a 26-year-old security guard, a virtual no-hoper who mans the night shift on the gate of an up-market residential estate in LA. The security is superficial as Harvey in unarmed and even his badge is sewn on. Nothing happens on that shift so Harvey reads a lot of second- hand detective stories, watches PI shows on TV and is addicted Spenser, Magnum, and Mannix.

Harvey is overjoyed when one of the residents, Cyril Parkus, asks him to follow his lovely wife Lauren because she is acting strangely. The pay is great and Harvey immediately does his homework by watching a marathon session of "Mannix" to get clues on how to follow someone. Suddenly he feels alive as he has a purpose in life. He shares this with his neighbour Carol, with whom he has a casual sexual relationship. She calls him "Magnum" and is turned on with the thought of Harvey's PI project.

Of course nothing goes as planned and while Harvey makes the most basic mistakes he does find a clue that suggests that Lauren is being blackmailed and Carol helps him to find the name of the blackmailer. Then something terrible happens and Harvey is completely out of his depth - but he plows on and gets into, and out of, even more trouble.

Lee Goldberg has created a lovable and memorable character that you will follow with trepidation, amazement and delight. This is a great little book that pokes fun at the PI genre and gets away with it. Well recommended.

Lee Goldberg: The Walk

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A Nightmare Walk Home
What would you do if you had survived the most cataclysmic earthquake in LA history and you are 30 miles from home? Most roads and freeways are impassable and buckled, overpasses collapsed, skyscrapers are toppled or fatally damaged, LAX is on fire and the runways unusable and hundreds of thousands of the population are killed, seriously injured or trapped under rubble. And the aftershocks keep coming, bigger than any in living memory.

Martin Slack, a successful network executive, has been visiting a TV series set in an old warehouse when the earthquake struck and is lucky to take cover under his Mercedes when the warehouse collapses, crushes his car but leaves him unscathed. With devastation all around him Martin decides to walk home through the rubble to his home and his wife, not knowing if his house and wife have survived. Martin is not normally an adventurous type but within hours he rescues a boy from a car on a damaged flyover, and fails to rescue a woman trapped in her car. He is helped along by Buck, a mysterious hunk of a man with a flair for violence, who follows him through thick and thin.

This is a catastrophic tale of the aftermath of a major disaster and how people react, including inadvertent bravery. To lighten things a bit, Lee Goldberg mixes in a few touches of humour, especially focusing on the unreal world of TV series and movies. Along the way Marty discovers a lot about himself and his feelings for his wife, and his life.

This is a page-turning unusual adventure that I recommend to anyone looking for an enjoyable short read.

Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg: The Heist

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Use a "Con Man" to catch a "Con Man"
This is an amusing romp of a book starring Kate O'Hare, an ex-Navy SEAL now a tough and successful FBI agent and co-starring charming and handsome Nicholas Fox, the ultimate international con artist who has pulled off some stupendous and very profitable cons throughout the world.

Kate is good at her job but she has an Achilles heel because for the last five years she has been obsessed with  hunting down Nick who is a chameleon and has slipped through Kate's net many times. At last Kate gets Nick when he attempts to steal a rare and extremely valuable red diamond. She is stunned when Nick escapes on his way to jail but is totally shattered when she finds out that the escape has been set up by the FBI to contract Nick for five years to track down other con artists. Sounds sensible doesn't it - for example, how many ex-top hackers are now employed to keep systems secure from hackers.

The bad news for Kate is that the FBI expects her to work with Nick to chase other con artists or face years in the FBI wilderness. Not only does she have to team up with Nick, she has to become a vital part of the team for Nick's first case (or con) to take down an investment banker who has swindled millions of dollars.

This is not your normal FBI thriller. It is light, somewhat frivolous and humorous and would probably make a great movie (a bit like Ocean's Eleven). I enjoyed it because it was an easy and quick page-turner that had me laughing out loud at some of the most ludicrous situations. Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg have combined pretty seamlessly to create an amusing and different new series with some unusual characters, witty dialogue and some romantic undertones.  I am sure that the series will be successful and enjoyed by many people.

Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg: Pros and Cons: A Short Story

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This is not the "Love Boat"
This is a very short, enjoyable and funny romp of a prequel to a new series about FBI special agent Kate O'Hare who is hunting the ultimate international con artist Nicolas Fox. Kate is obsessed with catching Nick, and he knows that she is on his trail.

Although he is a master of different characters, Nick has one thing that makes him stand out - he uses names of famous people, especially movie and TV characters. When Kate discovers a wedding of a middle-aged, very rich serial divorcee, to a sexy young lady is being arranged by an unknown wedding planner called Merill Stubing she knows that she has found him again. Of course Nick is planning to remove some of the bridegroom's riches, and won't be arranging the honeymoon on a Love Boat cruise.

This is a preview of the battle between Nick and Kate which will be continued in "The Heist" to be released in mid June 2013. This could be an entertaining but not very serious FBI thriller series.