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L.A. Times

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Vinnie Callabrese toils in the mean world of a Mafia hood, violently enforcing his loan-shark boss's debt collections, but he lives in the world of the movies, one where he can tie a bow tie like Cary Grant and speak with the voice of Tyrone Power.

Vinnie is smart, too, and he finds a way to turn his dream world into reality. Arriving on the West Coast with a new identity and some ill-gotten gains, Vinnie discovers that his sociopathic nature is just the ticket for handling the intrigues of tinseltown. He employs his old techniques of deceit, coercion, sexual conquest — even murder — to carve out a place at the top of the film industry.

But Vinnie's old neighborhood friends have excellent memories and a long reach, and soon his fast-track career is facing derailment — or even worse, a new driver at the controls.

Performed by Tony Roberts

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Tony Roberts gives voice to the murderous, monetary manipulations in Hollywood performing a wide cast of male and female characters. M.G.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 3, 1993
      Prolific crime writer Woods is back in form with a propulsive thriller featuring a movie mogul embroiled in multiple murders. While his last effort, the disappointing Santa Fe Rules , had a similar plot trajectory, Woods succeeds here with the help of a dynamic protagonist whose ambitions fuel a wild ride and an explosive ending. Vincente Michaele Callabrese works as a shake-down artist for the mob in New York City's Little Italy, but moviegoing is his passion. Early in the story, he changes his name to Michael Vincent and makes a break for L.A., where with the help of powerful studio head Leo Goldman he fufills his dream of becoming a big-time producer. Vincent's cosa nostra connections keep in touch, particularly old pal Tommy Provenzano, whose rise to power in New York parallels Vincent's in Hollywood. Eventually, Vincent's desire to bring a gentle turn-of-the-century novel to the screen leads him to employ the sorts of techniques and friends that served him in his mafia days. Cinematic triumph follows, but so does trouble. After so much absorbing Hollywood intrigue, the mob-style violence of the novel's last chapters seems almost anti-climactic. Readers will have few complaints, however, having been eminently entertained by the abundant suspense Woods creates as he depicts this licentious, adulterous and violent milieu. 100,000 first printing; $200,000 ad/promo; author tour. (May) .

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The usual great standards of Recorded Books prevail and Ferrone, one of their best narrators, does an excellent job. E.F. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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