Rating: 3 stars

Hollywood. There’s no place like it; anything is possible in this make-believe world, everybody is beautiful, nobody ever ages. Million dollar mansions cling to hillsides like magic. A town where money is no object and where everything (and everyone) is for sale. Just behind the glittery façade hides a darker world, where those who control the purse strings get what they want, with whom they want, whenever they want – no matter what the cost.

Potts and Squiers: just your average run-of-the-mill thugs getting rid of the body of a young girl who OD’d in the bathroom of a rising celebrity.

Richie Stella: the dirt bag mobster who employs the thugs and is using pictures of the dead girl as blackmail against the rising celebrity, in an effort to force him to star in his amateur movie; guaranteed to be a box office flop.

Bobby Dye: the immature, naïve, rising celebrity who started this whole mess by bringing a strange girl home to do drugs. Now he’s caught in Richie Stella’s web and he’ll do anything to get out of it, except cooperate.

David Spandau: former Hollywood stuntman. Once happily married, Spandau was forced to make a career change to private investigator and single guy after punching a director. Spandau reluctantly takes the job of protecting Bobby Dye from Richie Stella and Bobby’s self-destructive ways. Spandau has his hands full trying to release Bobby from Stella’s control, while Dye’s handlers do everything they can to make his job impossible.

As the plot thickens, the pace increases. The introduction of new characters fan the flames, adding even more dimension and drama to this mystery. Depp’s writing is a perfect blend of sarcasm and wit. I would have given it 3.5 stars, but there were too goddamn many goddamns –especially in the beginning, which interrupted the flow.

I’m sure Depp’s first novel will be compared to Mickey Spillane and others already well-established and well-liked in the noir genre. However, Depp does a great job of capturing the feel of current day Los Angeles. The story may not be original in the sense of the P.I. in Hollywood, but the voice is fresh and the dialogue natural, engaging and often laugh-out-loud. All of the characters have depth and each could easily stand on their own. I’m looking forward to Depp’s next David Spandau novel. --------------------------------
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Pub. Date: March 2009
ISBN-13: 9781439101438