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Borrowed Trouble
Hollywood, 1941: Ray Ward spends his nights thinking about his brother’s death and the blood-soaked days that followed. Dean Fokoli is off the police force, disgraced by his dirty dealings, left to scrape by as a private investigator. Ray receives a mysterious package from his sister containing a plea for help and a reel of 8mm film; the problem is, Ray has no sister. Now two former enemies must team up, travel halfway across the country and search the dark shadow of Hollywood’s spotlight. Encountering far more than they bargained for, they plunge behind the silver screen to unearth tinsel town’s dirtiest secrets. Two men with nothing left to lose are unafraid to stir up serious trouble.
250 pages, Paperback
First published January 20, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 7, 2017
In the second Ray and Fokoli novel, Beetner and Kohl take the two main characters from "One Too Many Blows To The Head" and inject them into an entirely new story. Rather than being a sequel, this book is a full story in its own right and you needn't have any familiarity with the first book to read this one.
Not a boxing story like "One Too Many Blows," this story takes place two years later and is in many ways an ode to the pulp detective stories of the forties and fifties where there's always a young girl, missing, and the subject of blue movies. Here, Ray and Fokoli can't resist a young damsel in distress' cries for help and the former boxing manager and former police detective, both at odds with officialdom, hop on the train and head out to Hollywood to rescue the lady from the evildoers.
It is a solid story filled with action of all kinds. There are the blue movies, the grifters, the movie studios, the secret peepshows, the stars on Hollywood Boulevard and two guys out of their element and in over their heads. It is a full-bore, action-packed, rockem, sockem, fight. No question who the good guys and the bad guys are.
The authors do a great job of capturing the spirit of Los Angeles with its endless boulevards of broken dreams and sleazy motels and miserable characters. You can almost hear "LA Woman" playing in the background.
This is simply righteous good stuff. Nuff said.
Not a boxing story like "One Too Many Blows," this story takes place two years later and is in many ways an ode to the pulp detective stories of the forties and fifties where there's always a young girl, missing, and the subject of blue movies. Here, Ray and Fokoli can't resist a young damsel in distress' cries for help and the former boxing manager and former police detective, both at odds with officialdom, hop on the train and head out to Hollywood to rescue the lady from the evildoers.
It is a solid story filled with action of all kinds. There are the blue movies, the grifters, the movie studios, the secret peepshows, the stars on Hollywood Boulevard and two guys out of their element and in over their heads. It is a full-bore, action-packed, rockem, sockem, fight. No question who the good guys and the bad guys are.
The authors do a great job of capturing the spirit of Los Angeles with its endless boulevards of broken dreams and sleazy motels and miserable characters. You can almost hear "LA Woman" playing in the background.
This is simply righteous good stuff. Nuff said.
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October 11, 2011Spoiler Alert: Key details from One Too Many Blows To The Head are revealed in Borrowed Trouble.
"Last time I set out to help someone things didn’t go too well." – Ray Ward
Ray’s luck isn’t faring much better in Borrowed Trouble, authors J.B. Kohl and Eric Beetner’s sequel to One Too Many Blows To The Head. Still mourning his brother’s death and the resulting carnage that followed, Ray is disarmed when he receives a package from California in the mail from his sister containing a reel of 8mm film and a plea for help.
The film depicts a brutal sexual assault, and as disturbing as that is, what makes the package truly disturbing to Ray is that to his knowledge he doesn’t have a sister. The letter contains enough details, however, to convince him that it’s legit. Determined not to lose another sibling, Ray resolves to do everything he can to help her.
Being as he’s a second-tier boxing manager in Kansas City, Ray’s not entirely sure how to go about things and so turns to his former nemesis – and now former police officer – Dean Fokoli, who’s working as a private investigator. Making it clear that he’ll be coming along, Ray hires Fokoli to go to Hollywood and track down his sister. Little could they have imagined that the film Ray was sent was only the tip of the iceberg, and that the bright lights of Hollywood only serve to cast even darker shadows.
When Ray and Fokoli hit town they discover that blockbusters aren’t the only films being made in Hollywood. As if the violent porn wasn’t bad enough, it turns out the people making those films have started producing actual snuff films as well. Now Ray and Fokoli are in a race not just to find Ray’s sister, but to save her life.
As with One Too many…, the story in Borrowed Trouble unfolds in chapters that alternate between the first person narratives of Ray and Fokoli. And while each narrative has a slightly different feel, which is fitting given the individual quirks and baggage of each man, the narratives nevertheless fit together seamlessly to bring the overall story arc to fruition. Set in 1941, authors Kohl and Beetner do a masterful job bringing that era to life. From the clothes to the cars to the lingo, the story virtually leaps of the page with vivid details. And this being a noir tale, some of those details are quite dark and disturbing.
The sex and violence in Borrowed Trouble are depicted in graphic, pull no punches fashion, yet it’s done in such a way that is absolutely integral to the story and in no way gratuitous. The utter depravity that Ray and Fokoli are facing must be crystal clear in order to put into perspective the occasionally morally questionable choices they make themselves over the course of the story. But exactly how far will they be willing to go? And what happens when one man is determined to take things further than the other is comfortable with? Help yourself to some Borrowed Trouble and find out.
"Last time I set out to help someone things didn’t go too well." – Ray Ward
Ray’s luck isn’t faring much better in Borrowed Trouble, authors J.B. Kohl and Eric Beetner’s sequel to One Too Many Blows To The Head. Still mourning his brother’s death and the resulting carnage that followed, Ray is disarmed when he receives a package from California in the mail from his sister containing a reel of 8mm film and a plea for help.
The film depicts a brutal sexual assault, and as disturbing as that is, what makes the package truly disturbing to Ray is that to his knowledge he doesn’t have a sister. The letter contains enough details, however, to convince him that it’s legit. Determined not to lose another sibling, Ray resolves to do everything he can to help her.
Being as he’s a second-tier boxing manager in Kansas City, Ray’s not entirely sure how to go about things and so turns to his former nemesis – and now former police officer – Dean Fokoli, who’s working as a private investigator. Making it clear that he’ll be coming along, Ray hires Fokoli to go to Hollywood and track down his sister. Little could they have imagined that the film Ray was sent was only the tip of the iceberg, and that the bright lights of Hollywood only serve to cast even darker shadows.
When Ray and Fokoli hit town they discover that blockbusters aren’t the only films being made in Hollywood. As if the violent porn wasn’t bad enough, it turns out the people making those films have started producing actual snuff films as well. Now Ray and Fokoli are in a race not just to find Ray’s sister, but to save her life.
As with One Too many…, the story in Borrowed Trouble unfolds in chapters that alternate between the first person narratives of Ray and Fokoli. And while each narrative has a slightly different feel, which is fitting given the individual quirks and baggage of each man, the narratives nevertheless fit together seamlessly to bring the overall story arc to fruition. Set in 1941, authors Kohl and Beetner do a masterful job bringing that era to life. From the clothes to the cars to the lingo, the story virtually leaps of the page with vivid details. And this being a noir tale, some of those details are quite dark and disturbing.
The sex and violence in Borrowed Trouble are depicted in graphic, pull no punches fashion, yet it’s done in such a way that is absolutely integral to the story and in no way gratuitous. The utter depravity that Ray and Fokoli are facing must be crystal clear in order to put into perspective the occasionally morally questionable choices they make themselves over the course of the story. But exactly how far will they be willing to go? And what happens when one man is determined to take things further than the other is comfortable with? Help yourself to some Borrowed Trouble and find out.
June 13, 2015
Good noir story
This is the second book about Ray Ward, a tough boxer, and Dean Fokoli, a disgraced ex-cop. This book picks up the two a couple years after the events of the first story. The duo finds themselves in LA chasing down rape and snuff film producers. Once again, they leave a lot of spilled blood and dead bodies in their wake.
I enjoyed this story. The characters are interesting and even though they are violent and work outside the law, you are pulling for them against some very despicable trash.
This is the second book about Ray Ward, a tough boxer, and Dean Fokoli, a disgraced ex-cop. This book picks up the two a couple years after the events of the first story. The duo finds themselves in LA chasing down rape and snuff film producers. Once again, they leave a lot of spilled blood and dead bodies in their wake.
I enjoyed this story. The characters are interesting and even though they are violent and work outside the law, you are pulling for them against some very despicable trash.
August 20, 2016
Good noir book. I would try the rest of the series
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews