Rat Pack Again

So, at first I was a little let down by It Was a Very Bad Year...The initial part of the story was redundant of an earlier story, and there seemed like there was no big mystery after all. But I should have known my Eddie G had way more up his sleeve than just finding some racy pictures of an actress. Eddie G and Big Jerry never let me down, and they certainly didn't in this Rat Pack Mystery.

To recap: Eddie is approached by the on-screen wife of Joey Bishop, Abby Dalton, to help retrieve some pictures she made early on in her career that wouldn't uphold her current good girl status. Naturally, Eddie agrees, and since Big Jerry just happens to be in town with his nephew, he enlists the hit man into intimidating the photographer holding the pictures. While there's some breaking and entering involved, this portion of the story resolves quickly and is a bit ho-hum. And then...Frank Sinatra calls. His son, Frankie Jr., has been kidnapped, and he needs his buddy Eddie to help handle the situation. It should come as no surprise that the earlier bit of the story is woven into the second half, and things are not at all what they seem.

It never ceases to amaze me how adeptly Randisi intertwines actual events with those of the fictional Eddie G, and in this case, he has Eddie helping the FBI make the case against the real-life kidnappers. The way Randisi writes the tale, I am almost convinced this is how it really, truly happened. Eddie and Jerry are delightful as always, and the appearances of the Rat Pack and other celebrities add completely to the atmosphere. Bookended by a short narrative of present-day Eddie looking back, this is a fun entry that will keep you turning the pages.

~taminator40