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Mystery 1
UNAVAILABLE
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2011
16 people want to read
About the author
Rosanne Limoncelli
11 books74 followersRosanne Limoncelli is an author, filmmaker, and storyteller living in Brooklyn. She has written, directed and produced short narrative films, documentaries and educational films. Rosanne also writes plays, screenplays, poetry, games, mysteries and science fiction. Her short fiction first appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and her short films have screened in festivals around the world.
Rosanne's debut mystery novel is The Four Queens of Crime published by Crooked Lane Books at Penguin Random House and her book Teaching Filmmaking: Empowering Students Through Visual Storytelling is available on Amazon.
Rosanne is the Senior Director for Film Technologies at the Kanbar Institute and the Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, where she also teaches filmmaking, story writing and virtual production. She received her BFA in Film & TV Production at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and her MA and PhD in Teaching Reading, Writing, and Media from NYU’s Steinhardt School. She has been teaching writing and filmmaking to students and professors for more than three decades, and has often served as an educational and technology consultant, and as a speaker at conferences and universities.
Rosanne's debut mystery novel is The Four Queens of Crime published by Crooked Lane Books at Penguin Random House and her book Teaching Filmmaking: Empowering Students Through Visual Storytelling is available on Amazon.
Rosanne is the Senior Director for Film Technologies at the Kanbar Institute and the Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, where she also teaches filmmaking, story writing and virtual production. She received her BFA in Film & TV Production at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and her MA and PhD in Teaching Reading, Writing, and Media from NYU’s Steinhardt School. She has been teaching writing and filmmaking to students and professors for more than three decades, and has often served as an educational and technology consultant, and as a speaker at conferences and universities.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 15, 2011
I was intrigued by the idea of reading a book about a serial killer set in 1979 in New York. Remember the real-life terror of Son of Sam, day after day, till they caught him? And the book "Even Trade" doesn't disappoint. We enter the world of 19-year-old Nina Esposito, a woman who has grown up in bars, who works as a bartender and who meets her friends after work in other bars.
The book opens with Nina discovering a body on her way to acting class. The discovery is even more unsettling when it becomes clear there is a killer who seems to be targeting young actresses from her acting school. Targeting young actresses of Italian descent with long dark hair who look just like her.
As a reader you are way ahead of Nina through much of the book. Due to the early deaths of her parents and then the grandmother who cared for her as a teenager, Nina is mature beyond her years, but she is young and naive enough to wantonly ignore the danger around her. We meet all Nina's men--friends and acquaintances, from her acting teacher to her best moviegoing buddy. They are all older than Nina, and they all want something from her. What they all want is more or less the same. She yearns for a real connection with one of them, but she's not finding it.
In 1979 there was tension in Iran, there was music from Led Zeppelin, Prince, Earth Wind and Fire and the Stones. Song lyrics comfort Nina when the fear grows intense. People skated in roller rinks, and didn't have cell phones, and maybe they looked out for each other more. There is a real neighborhood feel about the points on Nina's local compass: the bars where she works and hangs out, her apartment, her acting school, the roller rink. Terrifying scenes from her past are weaved deftly into the story to resonate in her duel of wits with the unknown killer.
The ending was totally surprising, and highly satisfying. I was left wishing I could spend more time with Nina Esposito, like all those other men in her life, but the story was over.
The book opens with Nina discovering a body on her way to acting class. The discovery is even more unsettling when it becomes clear there is a killer who seems to be targeting young actresses from her acting school. Targeting young actresses of Italian descent with long dark hair who look just like her.
As a reader you are way ahead of Nina through much of the book. Due to the early deaths of her parents and then the grandmother who cared for her as a teenager, Nina is mature beyond her years, but she is young and naive enough to wantonly ignore the danger around her. We meet all Nina's men--friends and acquaintances, from her acting teacher to her best moviegoing buddy. They are all older than Nina, and they all want something from her. What they all want is more or less the same. She yearns for a real connection with one of them, but she's not finding it.
In 1979 there was tension in Iran, there was music from Led Zeppelin, Prince, Earth Wind and Fire and the Stones. Song lyrics comfort Nina when the fear grows intense. People skated in roller rinks, and didn't have cell phones, and maybe they looked out for each other more. There is a real neighborhood feel about the points on Nina's local compass: the bars where she works and hangs out, her apartment, her acting school, the roller rink. Terrifying scenes from her past are weaved deftly into the story to resonate in her duel of wits with the unknown killer.
The ending was totally surprising, and highly satisfying. I was left wishing I could spend more time with Nina Esposito, like all those other men in her life, but the story was over.
August 4, 2011
Sure, this is a fast-moving murder mystery that keeps you guessing till the last page, but it's also a portrait of a different Gilded Age in New York's history -- a time when people unironically laced up their roller-skates and discoed around while giving each other suggestive glances. The author's love for her home, and deep knowledge of the way it can be a young woman's best friend (or worst enemy, depending on her mood and proximity to a possible serial killer), is obvious on every page. I felt for the main character, fell for every red herring, and in the end didn't see it coming, even though I thought I had it all figured out. What a great page-turner -- er, page-clicker. (Page-swiper? I read it on my iPhone.) Thumbs up!
August 17, 2011
This book was a quick and intriguing page-turner. The author did a great job of capturing the time and working-class setting of late 1970s New York, a gritty hotbed of corruption and sleaze where murders go unsolved.
But what struck me foremost about this book is how fully fleshed-out its protagonist Nina is. She is young, full of street smarts, but much more vulnerable than she thinks she is. Her past is skillfully intertwined with the murder mystery playing out in present day. Going into this, I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. At its heart, Even Trade is both a murder mystery and a character study, which makes the plot that much more engaging.
But what struck me foremost about this book is how fully fleshed-out its protagonist Nina is. She is young, full of street smarts, but much more vulnerable than she thinks she is. Her past is skillfully intertwined with the murder mystery playing out in present day. Going into this, I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. At its heart, Even Trade is both a murder mystery and a character study, which makes the plot that much more engaging.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews