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Nathan Heller #13
Bye Bye, Baby
PI Nathan Heller returns in Bye Bye, Baby, as Max Allan Collins brings to life a vivid star-studded cast, from JFK and RFK to Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford, from Jimmy Hoffa and Joe DiMaggio to Hugh Hefner and Sam Giancana. This is a Hollywood tale you never thought could happen…but probably did. It's 1962, and Twentieth Century Fox is threatening to fire Marilyn Monroe. The blond goddess hires Nate Heller, private eye to the stars, to tap her phone so she will have a record of their calls in case they take her to court. When Heller starts listening, he uncovers far more than nasty conversations. The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia—even the Russians—are involved in actions focused on Marilyn. She's the quintessential American cultural icon, idolized by women, desired by men, but her private life is... complicated...and her connection to the Kennedys makes her an object of interest to some parties with sinister intentions. Not long after Heller signs on, Marilyn winds up dead of a convenient overdose. The detective feels he owes her, and the Kennedys, with whom he busted up corrupt unions in the 1950s. But now, as Heller investigates all possible people—famous, infamous, or deeply cloaked—who might be responsible for Marilyn's death, he realizes that what has become his most challenging assignment may also be the end of him.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 16, 2011
23 people are currently reading
385 people want to read
About the author
Max Allan Collins
813 books1,332 followersReceived the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
August 2, 2012
Marilyn Monroe has affairs with both JFK and RFK! The FBI and the Mafia are secretly recording everything! She dies under mysterious circumstances and powerful people cover it up! Then she runs off with Elvis after he faked his death to live with the aliens hidden in Area 51!
OK, so maybe that last one is pushing it.
Nathan Heller, a private detective who is more of a figurehead for his successful national agency than investigator, is asked by his old friend Marilyn Monroe to set up wiretaps on her phones because she’s worried that her movie studio is trying to smear her as part of a contract dispute, and she wants to document her conversations. While arranging that Heller learns that Marilyn’s phone is a party line with several other people like J. Edgar Hoover and Jimmy Hoffa listening in.
Marilyn’s dalliances with the Kennedy brothers has everyone trying to dig up dirt for their own blackmail schemes. Heller has a long history of working angles both for and against everyone involved including Bobby Kennedy, Hoover, Hoffa, Frank Sinatra and Sam Giancana, and he tries to smooth over everyone’s conflicts while trying to minimize the damage to Marilyn. When the bombshell turns up dead, Heller doesn’t buy the official suicide story and finds himself at odds with the government, the Mob, the LAPD and the Hollywood studio system. Take your pick as to which one is the most dangerous.
The whole Marilyn-was-murdered conspiracy angle is a little tired with me, but I had a lot of fun with this one. I’m a sucker for all the behind the scenes shenanigans that were going on between the Kennedys and the Mob and the Rat Pack so I found it entertaining as hell.
One of the things I liked most was the character of Heller. This was the first one in this series I’d read, and from what I gather, the theme is that Heller is constantly getting mixed up with famous historical figures and crimes. It works extremely well here with Heller’s shady history enabling him to talk at different times with Bobby Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa while both men think of Heller as being on his side.
Heller is a businessman and an operator who is cynical enough to know the score. He’s much more J.J. Gites than Phillip Marlowe. He’s also kind of a prick, but he’s got just enough conscience to redeem himself. I especially liked that he considered Marilyn a friend, even though he’d slept with her too, and he seems like the only to think of her as a person and not just a movie star or pin-up girl in the whole mess.
I picked this up as quickie paperback grab at a bookstore when I needed some short term reading material and ended up with a very entertaining crime yarn with a historical backdrop. Now I gotta check out the rest of the Nathan Heller series.
OK, so maybe that last one is pushing it.
Nathan Heller, a private detective who is more of a figurehead for his successful national agency than investigator, is asked by his old friend Marilyn Monroe to set up wiretaps on her phones because she’s worried that her movie studio is trying to smear her as part of a contract dispute, and she wants to document her conversations. While arranging that Heller learns that Marilyn’s phone is a party line with several other people like J. Edgar Hoover and Jimmy Hoffa listening in.
Marilyn’s dalliances with the Kennedy brothers has everyone trying to dig up dirt for their own blackmail schemes. Heller has a long history of working angles both for and against everyone involved including Bobby Kennedy, Hoover, Hoffa, Frank Sinatra and Sam Giancana, and he tries to smooth over everyone’s conflicts while trying to minimize the damage to Marilyn. When the bombshell turns up dead, Heller doesn’t buy the official suicide story and finds himself at odds with the government, the Mob, the LAPD and the Hollywood studio system. Take your pick as to which one is the most dangerous.
The whole Marilyn-was-murdered conspiracy angle is a little tired with me, but I had a lot of fun with this one. I’m a sucker for all the behind the scenes shenanigans that were going on between the Kennedys and the Mob and the Rat Pack so I found it entertaining as hell.
One of the things I liked most was the character of Heller. This was the first one in this series I’d read, and from what I gather, the theme is that Heller is constantly getting mixed up with famous historical figures and crimes. It works extremely well here with Heller’s shady history enabling him to talk at different times with Bobby Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa while both men think of Heller as being on his side.
Heller is a businessman and an operator who is cynical enough to know the score. He’s much more J.J. Gites than Phillip Marlowe. He’s also kind of a prick, but he’s got just enough conscience to redeem himself. I especially liked that he considered Marilyn a friend, even though he’d slept with her too, and he seems like the only to think of her as a person and not just a movie star or pin-up girl in the whole mess.
I picked this up as quickie paperback grab at a bookstore when I needed some short term reading material and ended up with a very entertaining crime yarn with a historical backdrop. Now I gotta check out the rest of the Nathan Heller series.
December 6, 2017
The events surrounding the death of Marilyn Monroe have always intrigued me and the 15th installment in the Nate Heller P.I series delves deep into the conspiracy to form a nice fictional period piece of the events in the lead up to the Hollywood starlet's untimely demise, while adding to Heller's already impressive client list and all round influence in, well, pretty much every pie he slips his finger into; the mob, Hollywood, politics, and the police.
Bye, Bye Baby is told in two distinct stanza; pre and post Marilyn's death. Personally I would've liked to have seen a little more impact and empathy in Heller's character and an overall change in the books tone given the event shifted the books direction but it's a relatively minor gripe given the overall quality of the story. I particularly liked the way Heller's character seamlessly infused himself into the starlets life, it's like Heller was fact, not fiction in this historical crime.
I listened to the audio edition, narrated by Dan Jon Miller, who did a nice job of pulling off Heller and the supporting cast, however his 'Marilyn' took some getting used to.
Despite being book 15 in the series, Bye, Bye, Baby reads perfectly well as a standalone. I've only read a handful of books in this series and none in any real chronological order and didn't ever feel like I was missing out on some key character interaction or series-long sub plot.
My rating: 4/5 stars.
Bye, Bye Baby is told in two distinct stanza; pre and post Marilyn's death. Personally I would've liked to have seen a little more impact and empathy in Heller's character and an overall change in the books tone given the event shifted the books direction but it's a relatively minor gripe given the overall quality of the story. I particularly liked the way Heller's character seamlessly infused himself into the starlets life, it's like Heller was fact, not fiction in this historical crime.
I listened to the audio edition, narrated by Dan Jon Miller, who did a nice job of pulling off Heller and the supporting cast, however his 'Marilyn' took some getting used to.
Despite being book 15 in the series, Bye, Bye, Baby reads perfectly well as a standalone. I've only read a handful of books in this series and none in any real chronological order and didn't ever feel like I was missing out on some key character interaction or series-long sub plot.
My rating: 4/5 stars.
February 6, 2023
Max Allan Collins is a very prolific mystery writer who has written comics and graphic novels including Road to Perdition and scores of crime novels including several mystery series. These include his Quarry, Nathan Heller, Nolan, and Disaster series. I have read several of his novels and really enjoy them, especially the Heller series which is about a Chicago private investigator who gets involved in famous crimes and meets famous people of the 1930s and 1940s and gets involved in such cases as the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Black Dahlia, and the Amelia Earhart disappearance. The novels continue on into the 1960s with Bye Bye, Baby which deals with the death of Marilyn Monroe.
In this novel, Heller is a friend of Marilyn's who hires him to bug her residence because of her conflict with her studio, Twentieth Century Fox, over her supposed delaying of the movie, Something's Got to Give. But Marilyn is involved with much more including dalliances with both John and Bobby Kennedy where she may have learned secrets that cannot be made public. The mob is also concerned because of their involvement in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro which may be a secret Marilyn is privy to. Other players include Frank Sinatra and his buddy Peter Lawford who is married to a Kennedy. Joe Dimaggio, Marilyn's ex, is also in the novel along with Hugh Hefner and others. And then Marilyn is found dead — a possible suicide. But was it suicide or was she murdered to coverup her secrets? If so, who was behind it? The Kennedys or the mob or someone else? Heller of course looks into this and comes up with a probable answer.
I enjoyed this novel in the Heller series which as usual is filled with historical facts and characters. Marilyn Monroe was probably murdered and she did have affairs with both Bobby and Jack Kennedy but were they involved in her death? Of course this was a work of fiction but Collins makes a convincing case for how this tragedy occurred. I have several other Heller novels on my TBR shelves that I'll hopefully get to sometime soon.
In this novel, Heller is a friend of Marilyn's who hires him to bug her residence because of her conflict with her studio, Twentieth Century Fox, over her supposed delaying of the movie, Something's Got to Give. But Marilyn is involved with much more including dalliances with both John and Bobby Kennedy where she may have learned secrets that cannot be made public. The mob is also concerned because of their involvement in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro which may be a secret Marilyn is privy to. Other players include Frank Sinatra and his buddy Peter Lawford who is married to a Kennedy. Joe Dimaggio, Marilyn's ex, is also in the novel along with Hugh Hefner and others. And then Marilyn is found dead — a possible suicide. But was it suicide or was she murdered to coverup her secrets? If so, who was behind it? The Kennedys or the mob or someone else? Heller of course looks into this and comes up with a probable answer.
I enjoyed this novel in the Heller series which as usual is filled with historical facts and characters. Marilyn Monroe was probably murdered and she did have affairs with both Bobby and Jack Kennedy but were they involved in her death? Of course this was a work of fiction but Collins makes a convincing case for how this tragedy occurred. I have several other Heller novels on my TBR shelves that I'll hopefully get to sometime soon.
August 22, 2011
4.5 stars. As a rule, I shy away from any novels using famous personalities as their main players, but not for this first-rate historical private eye tale. P.I. Nate Heller, older and wiser but still tough-nosed and hardboiled, befriends Norma Jeane. At her request, he taps her phone and then her in bed. What dude wouldn't like doing that? Anyway. Our intrepid sleuth Nate is hired by a rich Hollywood journalist after Marilyn's death to check into the sketchy circumstances surrounding it. He talks a series of celebrities including JFK, RFK, Chairman of the Board, Peter Lawford, and Joltin' Joe (who is depicted as a real bastard). By the book's end, Nate cobbles the clues together and lays out what he believes actually went down the night Marilyn Monroe died. Well-researched and well-written, Bye Bye, Baby is one of the finest shamus novels I've read in a long time.
July 14, 2015
I've read a lot of Max Allan Collins's work, and while he is a very talented writer, he has one big flaw which tends to stand out the most in the Nathan Heller series. Collins is a member of the worst generation: A baby boomer who watched the Big Chill way too many times, and thinks that movie is actually reality. He's never quite been able to overcome the limitations of his generational lens.
This flaw rears its ugly head in this book, a historical mystery about the death of Marilyn Monroe. Nathan Heller is hired as her bodyguard, so of course, she gets killed. Never hire Heller as your bodyguard, it's a sure way to get your ticket punched.
Heller pokes around, and encounters the Kennedys, the mob, Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio, Peter Lawford, and several other historical figures. Collins goes out of his way to bash Sinatra, whom he's never liked, but in truth, today's singers behave every bit as badly. There is a persuasive argument that back when the mob controlled the music industry, the music was better, and the musicians were treated better, but I digress.
Collins admits he is a Kennedy fan, and that he tried to overcome his bias towards them. He fails, but at least he admits he has a bias, which gives him more integrity than Brian Williams, George Stephanopoulis, and pretty much every other mainstream reporter. Still, reading about Collins's reaction to Chappaquiddick was the most hilarious part of the book.
I disagree with Collins's solution to the case, but his conspiracy theory is as good as anybody else's. At least he doesn't think it concerns extraterrestrials.
This flaw rears its ugly head in this book, a historical mystery about the death of Marilyn Monroe. Nathan Heller is hired as her bodyguard, so of course, she gets killed. Never hire Heller as your bodyguard, it's a sure way to get your ticket punched.
Heller pokes around, and encounters the Kennedys, the mob, Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio, Peter Lawford, and several other historical figures. Collins goes out of his way to bash Sinatra, whom he's never liked, but in truth, today's singers behave every bit as badly. There is a persuasive argument that back when the mob controlled the music industry, the music was better, and the musicians were treated better, but I digress.
Collins admits he is a Kennedy fan, and that he tried to overcome his bias towards them. He fails, but at least he admits he has a bias, which gives him more integrity than Brian Williams, George Stephanopoulis, and pretty much every other mainstream reporter. Still, reading about Collins's reaction to Chappaquiddick was the most hilarious part of the book.
I disagree with Collins's solution to the case, but his conspiracy theory is as good as anybody else's. At least he doesn't think it concerns extraterrestrials.
May 15, 2024
As a pulp novel, this is very good. This is the first volume of Collins’ JFK assassination trilogy. It was followed by two books on the RFK assassination. Bobby, in fact, is one of the principal secondary characters in this book.
More importantly, as assassination porn, Collins put his finger on precisely the nub of the problem – which most students of the conspiracy miss. Jack and Bob inherited their father’s syndicate associations, and yet both (especially Bobby) were reformists and intellectuals. When they came into office, they were tricked or at least willingly went along with the previous administrations’s (Dulles’) anti-communism and attempted to assassinate Castro. And also, of course, there was the catastrophe of the Bay of Pigs. They learned their lesson. But in doing so they had set in motion a dreadful and fateful machinery. For in order to destroy Castro, they created an alliance between the Mob (the Outfit) and the CIA (the Company) — an alliance that eventually turned on the Kennedys themselves as they began to radicalize in early 1963, under the influence of civil rights, Khrushchev’s desire for detente, their horror at absurdity of Vietnam and of the fascists leading the American Military-Industrial complex, some of whom wanted a first strike on the Soviet Union, and from their own deeply internalized sense of humanity — which came to the forefront, again, during the course of 1963.
It will be interesting to see what Collins does with this material in the next two volumes.
More importantly, as assassination porn, Collins put his finger on precisely the nub of the problem – which most students of the conspiracy miss. Jack and Bob inherited their father’s syndicate associations, and yet both (especially Bobby) were reformists and intellectuals. When they came into office, they were tricked or at least willingly went along with the previous administrations’s (Dulles’) anti-communism and attempted to assassinate Castro. And also, of course, there was the catastrophe of the Bay of Pigs. They learned their lesson. But in doing so they had set in motion a dreadful and fateful machinery. For in order to destroy Castro, they created an alliance between the Mob (the Outfit) and the CIA (the Company) — an alliance that eventually turned on the Kennedys themselves as they began to radicalize in early 1963, under the influence of civil rights, Khrushchev’s desire for detente, their horror at absurdity of Vietnam and of the fascists leading the American Military-Industrial complex, some of whom wanted a first strike on the Soviet Union, and from their own deeply internalized sense of humanity — which came to the forefront, again, during the course of 1963.
It will be interesting to see what Collins does with this material in the next two volumes.
March 21, 2018
The Heller series has become one of my favorite series to read, mixing historical mysteries with fictional explainations that feel plasible. This one deals with the death of Marliyn Monroe and her possible connections to the Kennedys. Mixing Frank Sinatra, the Rat Pack, his mob connections, and even Hugh Hefner for good measure helped me imagine the world of the 60's. Heller as usual is a smart, funny, and kick ass protagonist who solves the mystery and it believably fits what is known in history.
April 14, 2023
I’ve read several of the Nate Heller books, but this might be my favorite. Exhaustively researched, Collins presents a vivacious, insightful and intelligent Marilyn Monroe that is struck down by the webs that men of power weave. A heartbreaking page turner.
June 15, 2017
What does Collins pull off in this book? He traces the last days of the Blonde Bombshell herself, Marilyn Monroe, one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century. Although Marilyn Monroe made only a few movies, she was and still is one of the most important movie stars ever. She died young and, like others who
have tragically died young (James Dean, Jim Morrison, etc.), her legend has grown and grown.
This is a book like no other I have ever read. It injects Collins fictional creation, Nathan Heller, into the life of Marilyn Monroe, as her friend and lover. Heller interacts with Monroe, with Bobby Kennedy, with Frank Sinatra, and others. It does not feel contrived, however. It feels
genuine.You get to know Monroe so well in this book that it comes as a shock
when she dies. Heller is a friend and a lover to Monroe and he seems to be about the only one who wants the truth to be found about how she died. An army of people and lies surround her death and the cover up starts with the doctors and the coroner's office and spirals up and
around the highest offices in the land.
Collins writes this book skillfully. As a reader, you get to explore some
of the controversy about Monroe's death and understand the background behind the cover-up theories. I
have tragically died young (James Dean, Jim Morrison, etc.), her legend has grown and grown.
This is a book like no other I have ever read. It injects Collins fictional creation, Nathan Heller, into the life of Marilyn Monroe, as her friend and lover. Heller interacts with Monroe, with Bobby Kennedy, with Frank Sinatra, and others. It does not feel contrived, however. It feels
genuine.You get to know Monroe so well in this book that it comes as a shock
when she dies. Heller is a friend and a lover to Monroe and he seems to be about the only one who wants the truth to be found about how she died. An army of people and lies surround her death and the cover up starts with the doctors and the coroner's office and spirals up and
around the highest offices in the land.
Collins writes this book skillfully. As a reader, you get to explore some
of the controversy about Monroe's death and understand the background behind the cover-up theories. I
September 17, 2011
Much has been written about Marilyn Monroe and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. Bye Bye Baby is one of those great novels that explores what really happened and ultimately places responsibility for her death with the mob and the Kennedys. It was refreshing to see Marilyn as a woman set on making changes in her life and taking back her independence. Unfortunately, Marilyn never got the chance to live the new life she was planning. Mr. Collins has done a fabolous job of researching and writing this novel and as a young, life long Marilyn fan this will go into my personal collection.
October 15, 2024
When Nate Heller expanded beyond his Chicago base and became the private eye to the stars, it was fait accompli that he was going to become involved in the death of Marilyn Monroe. And we know darn good and well that two other famous deaths of two of her purported lovers are coming up. Of course, Collins had already established Heller's relationship with Sinatra and with Sam Giancana. From there it's a very short hop to the Kennedy's and to Marilyn. There's been controversy about Monroe's death and where there may be a conspiracy, you're going to find Heller.
Collins does a great job of seamlessly insinuating Heller in to Monroe's last months. From her controversial firing by 20th Century Fox to her alleged affairs with two Kennedy brothers to the friction between Sinatra and the Kennedy's due to Bobby going after the mob after the help that Jack got in Illinois (not to mention the CIA-mob attempts on Castro), Collins pulls it all together here.
Which doesn't mean that I buy Heller's solution to Monroe's death...much like I don't buy most of the conspiracy solutions that Heller has come to over the years. But damn they're fun and compulsively readable.
Collins does a great job of seamlessly insinuating Heller in to Monroe's last months. From her controversial firing by 20th Century Fox to her alleged affairs with two Kennedy brothers to the friction between Sinatra and the Kennedy's due to Bobby going after the mob after the help that Jack got in Illinois (not to mention the CIA-mob attempts on Castro), Collins pulls it all together here.
Which doesn't mean that I buy Heller's solution to Monroe's death...much like I don't buy most of the conspiracy solutions that Heller has come to over the years. But damn they're fun and compulsively readable.
July 15, 2024
Nathan Heller investigates the death of Marylin Monroe. And the cover-up to make it look like suicide.
Collins describes the bougainvillea vines at Marylin's house in Brentwood twice in this novel. Since it is well researched historical fiction, and since he hasn't mentioned bougainvillea in his other novels that I've read so far, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and believe it.
One thing that I thought was kind of interesting is that the Kennedys, Jack and Bobby don't look so great and upstanding in this novel and the author touched on that in the after notes, even though he is an admirer. "When I would speak to George Hagenauer of my frustration and conflicted feelings in writing about Jack and Bobby Kennedy, he reminded me that the Kennedys we Baby Boomers had all grown up with were a PR glorification. The good they did was exaggerated, and the bad either hidden or downplayed." I think we get that a lot in American Politics.
Collins describes the bougainvillea vines at Marylin's house in Brentwood twice in this novel. Since it is well researched historical fiction, and since he hasn't mentioned bougainvillea in his other novels that I've read so far, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and believe it.
One thing that I thought was kind of interesting is that the Kennedys, Jack and Bobby don't look so great and upstanding in this novel and the author touched on that in the after notes, even though he is an admirer. "When I would speak to George Hagenauer of my frustration and conflicted feelings in writing about Jack and Bobby Kennedy, he reminded me that the Kennedys we Baby Boomers had all grown up with were a PR glorification. The good they did was exaggerated, and the bad either hidden or downplayed." I think we get that a lot in American Politics.
May 4, 2012
I'm a big fan of the Nathan Heller mystery series. As far as historical mysteries go this series is one of the best. Max Allan Collins gives more than a tip of his hat to the hard boiled slant of Spillane. Heller's cut whole cloth from Spillane's hard-boiled world outlook then gets dropped into some of the most beguiling mysteries of our times. I like the weave of historical fact, real life characters and the uncovering of murky questions surrounding the facts.
Bye Bye, Baby takes on the death of Marilyn Monroe. Collins uncovers this high profile death/suicide and examines the time, the players, and mixes all that with controversy. Even handed yet unsparing, his deft hand stirs in Sinatra, Giancana, Peter and Pat Lawford and of course the two Kennedy brothers who bedded Monroe, Jack and Bobby. What went on that night when Monroe allegedly committed suicide? Who was listening in? Who arrived first? Could she have been saved?
Collins' point of these Heller mysteries is to reexamine controversial crimes/deaths and bring them to light in entertaining well researched books. He's certainly done this again. As he wrote this book he (and his researcher)realized that he had to frame it with the intention of two more Heller volumes. One can guess he will tackle America's most examined day of the 20th century, President Kennedy's assignation, and might we press on to Bobby's? In Collins' hands I look forward to the unraveling.
Bye Bye, Baby takes on the death of Marilyn Monroe. Collins uncovers this high profile death/suicide and examines the time, the players, and mixes all that with controversy. Even handed yet unsparing, his deft hand stirs in Sinatra, Giancana, Peter and Pat Lawford and of course the two Kennedy brothers who bedded Monroe, Jack and Bobby. What went on that night when Monroe allegedly committed suicide? Who was listening in? Who arrived first? Could she have been saved?
Collins' point of these Heller mysteries is to reexamine controversial crimes/deaths and bring them to light in entertaining well researched books. He's certainly done this again. As he wrote this book he (and his researcher)realized that he had to frame it with the intention of two more Heller volumes. One can guess he will tackle America's most examined day of the 20th century, President Kennedy's assignation, and might we press on to Bobby's? In Collins' hands I look forward to the unraveling.
June 5, 2011
The first Nathan Heller novel in nine years. Comes out in August.
Max Allan Collins does his usual masterful job of weaving his fictional private eye into the real life story of the death of Marilyn Monroe. In his fifties now, Heller works more as a manger in general of the three branches of his A-1 Detective Agency.
Out in Los Angeles, he goes to work for Marilyn Monroe, a young woman he's known for years. She wants him to bug her own phones in her battles with Fox Studios, who are doing a hatchet job on her.
He also knows she's had an affair with President Kennedy, learns she's also had one with Bobby, and a number of shady characters have attached themselves to her.
He ends up having meetings with Sinatra, Jimmy Hoffa, Sam Giananca, Peter Lawford, all people he's known in the past. All profess worry about Marilyn on the one hand, but worried about what she might reveal.
After her murder, because that's what he believes it is and not the suicide cited by the police, Heller relentlessly digs into things, running into police road blocks, Mafia, government(not to mention some shady characters claiming to want to help him.
He tracks down the actual murderer, knowing all the time he can't touch the ones directly responsible, and ends things in his own inimitable manner.
Well worth a look.
Max Allan Collins does his usual masterful job of weaving his fictional private eye into the real life story of the death of Marilyn Monroe. In his fifties now, Heller works more as a manger in general of the three branches of his A-1 Detective Agency.
Out in Los Angeles, he goes to work for Marilyn Monroe, a young woman he's known for years. She wants him to bug her own phones in her battles with Fox Studios, who are doing a hatchet job on her.
He also knows she's had an affair with President Kennedy, learns she's also had one with Bobby, and a number of shady characters have attached themselves to her.
He ends up having meetings with Sinatra, Jimmy Hoffa, Sam Giananca, Peter Lawford, all people he's known in the past. All profess worry about Marilyn on the one hand, but worried about what she might reveal.
After her murder, because that's what he believes it is and not the suicide cited by the police, Heller relentlessly digs into things, running into police road blocks, Mafia, government(not to mention some shady characters claiming to want to help him.
He tracks down the actual murderer, knowing all the time he can't touch the ones directly responsible, and ends things in his own inimitable manner.
Well worth a look.
January 2, 2012
This was the book that got me hooked on Collins in the first place. In many ways, after reading other novels of his before this, it also seems to be his most disjointed. I was highly intrigued when he started discussing the Marilyn Monroe case as Nathan Heller has always had Hollywood friends throughout his novels. This one though doesn't seem to know where the mystery is. Part One sets up the fact that numerous people are spying on Marilyn and that she knows too much and Part Two is devoted to her death and the mystery of who killed her. The problem is we spend so much time setting up and seemingly doing nothing in the first half, that by the second it reads like Collins just discovered "Oh here's where we could put in the mystery." Had he just done this as a short story with just book two it would have been stronger. Also, by the end the climax doesn't feel like much and seems to be grasping at straws. I've read stronger narrative theories about Marilyn's murder in other books and this one seemed weak. The story itself was so rollicking and I was so wrapped up in events that I couldn't put it down, it was only when it was over that I felt like not much had been accomplished. It seemed like this novel was the close of the Heller story, so there was no need to dispense much effort. Really good, but shallow.
March 19, 2013
This book is historical fiction with some of the main characters in the book being Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, Bobby Kennedy and Frank Sinatra. Other characters are fictionalized versions of real people or composites of several actual people. The main character is a private detective who is completely fictional. The author explains all the characters and events at the end of the book. I’ve only read a couple of other books where an author writes fictional versions of actual events and fictional dialogue between actual historical characters. Never the less it works and it’s an interesting mystery woven around events that everyone already knows. It’s a good story, well written and fun to read. I think many readers who like murder mysteries would enjoy this book.
November 17, 2013
I love Marilyn Monroe so I was interested in this fictionalized account of her murder (yep, I'm a conspiracy theorist) but Collins let me down. Earlier Nathan Heller books show the hero to be morally ambiguous, but never has he been this crude and sexist. Collins gives us Heller at his most unlikeable, supposedly defending the world's most famous sex symbol while using her like so many other men did. Collins has a weakness for setting up ridiculously unlikely liaisons between his "private dick" and famous women, but this story stretches credibility to the breaking point.
August 12, 2011
This was a really good book. It takes place and is about Marilyn Monroe's death and the suspicious events that happened in the days before and after. It is listed as fiction, however, it sounds so true that it had me googling MM's death facts. The author uses many resources and tells the story as a private investigator and friend that Marilyn has hired. This book has everything: old Hollywood stories, the Kennedys, politics and Mafia.
June 16, 2023
I was not yet a teenager when the historical events upon which Max Allan Collins drew for Bye, Bye Baby took place. The actual events took place in late 1962. At this point, President Kennedy had made waves for allowing the Department of Justice to oversee the desegregation of Deep Southern universities, but had not yet become the hero of his showdown with Premier Khrushchev. Yet, as soon as Marilyn Monroe’s death was reported, rumors and inconsistencies began to erupt. I didn’t get it all, but I heard whispering of the Kennedys, the mafia (particularly the Chicago Outfit, though I didn’t know that name at the time), the FBI, 20th Century Fox, Frank Sinatra, the mysterious “father figure” psychiatrist, and the CIA. Not a lot of it made sense to a foolish pre-teen, but several neural pathways ended up forming shelves on which a multitude of conspiracy theories would pop up in the next several decades of my life.
What I love about Bye, Bye Baby is that Collins doesn’t allow Heller to jump at one conspiracy theory or another. Nathan Heller, the champion of modern historical fiction detectives in my opinion, doesn’t charge down one blind alley after another like many detectives; he works the evidence in parallel and doesn’t necessarily let anyone off the hook, even when he has a tentative solution. He’s always looking for the full story. Can we use Sam (“Mooney,” “Momo”) Giancana as the scapegoat? Maybe, but it isn’t that simple. Can we blame the reckless libido and ruthless ambition of the Kennedys? Maybe, but it isn’t that simple? Can we blame government cover-ups from as close as the L. A. Police Department’s “Intel” division to as far away as J. Edgar Hoover or the C.I.A.? Is there a “Red” angle? Just because McCarthyism was out of fashion by this point doesn’t mean the Cold War was over.
Naturally, many of my era won’t be able to read Bye, Bye Baby without connecting the potential conspiracies in this novel (and surrounding these circumstances) with those which later involved JFK, Dorothy Kilgallen, Jack Ruby, RFK, and more. This is what the French viticulture community would call a rich terroire It is fertile enough to promise a rich harvest of speculation and contemplation. It will make one angry and sad. It will have bittersweet moments that feel good and moments of palpable defeat. Ironically, Collins does accomplish what I considered the impossible. He does bring Heller’s investigation to a worthy conclusion. Though Heller is accused of being a dispenser of “rough justice,” one would be hard-pressed to argue that there is any type of Injustice in the volume’s conclusion.
Bye, Bye Baby was a superb experience of time-travel for me. I know it’s fiction and I know it doesn’t offer any real answers, BUT it took me back to my childhood through my adolescence and offered potential new perspectives to go with faulty, incomplete memories and assumptions. In addition, I really liked one particular emotionally-infused exchange between Heller and Bobby Kennedy when the latter is obfuscating his own involvement with Marilyn Monroe. “He could see I was steamed and did something surprising. He touched my arm. ‘I don’t disagree with you. But I can’t blame Jack, really. She is a lovely girl.’” To which Heller replies: “’Really, Bob? Marilyn Monroe is a lovely girl? Stop the [expletive deleted by me] presses.” (p. 78) That rejoinder was just so ironic in so many ways.
As Collins admits in the afterward, he began with a pro-Kennedy bias and ended up with conflicted feelings (p. 329). My feelings for the clan has always been conflicted. I feared Vatican influence when JFK ran in 1960 (But what do pre-teens really understand about politics?). I didn’t know what to make of the Madison Square Garden birthday or the rumors surrounding Marilyn’s death. I had unguarded hero worship after the integration of Ole Miss and resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I was caught up in assassination conspiracy. I vowed to leave my right-wing (idealistic teenaged) politics and vote for Bobby if he was nominated in 1968 and was watching the victory speech and recap when the Sirhan Sirhan events were revealed. I didn’t really “trust” Bobby, but I “wanted” to trust him. I loved his speeches, even the “Checkers” reference in that victory speech.
So, thank you, Max Allan Collins. You have stirred up my conflict feelings, my malleable memory, and my sense of history with troubling shadows of what might have been. Once more, you have sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole of possibility mixed with improbability and infused with history. Bye, Bye Baby may be pure escapism for some, but it is a perfect storm of fascination for me.
What I love about Bye, Bye Baby is that Collins doesn’t allow Heller to jump at one conspiracy theory or another. Nathan Heller, the champion of modern historical fiction detectives in my opinion, doesn’t charge down one blind alley after another like many detectives; he works the evidence in parallel and doesn’t necessarily let anyone off the hook, even when he has a tentative solution. He’s always looking for the full story. Can we use Sam (“Mooney,” “Momo”) Giancana as the scapegoat? Maybe, but it isn’t that simple. Can we blame the reckless libido and ruthless ambition of the Kennedys? Maybe, but it isn’t that simple? Can we blame government cover-ups from as close as the L. A. Police Department’s “Intel” division to as far away as J. Edgar Hoover or the C.I.A.? Is there a “Red” angle? Just because McCarthyism was out of fashion by this point doesn’t mean the Cold War was over.
Naturally, many of my era won’t be able to read Bye, Bye Baby without connecting the potential conspiracies in this novel (and surrounding these circumstances) with those which later involved JFK, Dorothy Kilgallen, Jack Ruby, RFK, and more. This is what the French viticulture community would call a rich terroire It is fertile enough to promise a rich harvest of speculation and contemplation. It will make one angry and sad. It will have bittersweet moments that feel good and moments of palpable defeat. Ironically, Collins does accomplish what I considered the impossible. He does bring Heller’s investigation to a worthy conclusion. Though Heller is accused of being a dispenser of “rough justice,” one would be hard-pressed to argue that there is any type of Injustice in the volume’s conclusion.
Bye, Bye Baby was a superb experience of time-travel for me. I know it’s fiction and I know it doesn’t offer any real answers, BUT it took me back to my childhood through my adolescence and offered potential new perspectives to go with faulty, incomplete memories and assumptions. In addition, I really liked one particular emotionally-infused exchange between Heller and Bobby Kennedy when the latter is obfuscating his own involvement with Marilyn Monroe. “He could see I was steamed and did something surprising. He touched my arm. ‘I don’t disagree with you. But I can’t blame Jack, really. She is a lovely girl.’” To which Heller replies: “’Really, Bob? Marilyn Monroe is a lovely girl? Stop the [expletive deleted by me] presses.” (p. 78) That rejoinder was just so ironic in so many ways.
As Collins admits in the afterward, he began with a pro-Kennedy bias and ended up with conflicted feelings (p. 329). My feelings for the clan has always been conflicted. I feared Vatican influence when JFK ran in 1960 (But what do pre-teens really understand about politics?). I didn’t know what to make of the Madison Square Garden birthday or the rumors surrounding Marilyn’s death. I had unguarded hero worship after the integration of Ole Miss and resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I was caught up in assassination conspiracy. I vowed to leave my right-wing (idealistic teenaged) politics and vote for Bobby if he was nominated in 1968 and was watching the victory speech and recap when the Sirhan Sirhan events were revealed. I didn’t really “trust” Bobby, but I “wanted” to trust him. I loved his speeches, even the “Checkers” reference in that victory speech.
So, thank you, Max Allan Collins. You have stirred up my conflict feelings, my malleable memory, and my sense of history with troubling shadows of what might have been. Once more, you have sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole of possibility mixed with improbability and infused with history. Bye, Bye Baby may be pure escapism for some, but it is a perfect storm of fascination for me.
April 18, 2019
I've read lots of Max Allan Collins, but this is the first Nathan Heller novel for me. Collins, through hero/detective Heller, takes a deep dive into the alleged discrepancies regarding Marilyn Monroe's alleged suicide. The first half of the book features a live Marilyn; she dies halfway through, pushing Nathan to figure out what happened, since he doesn't believe she killed herself. Lots of Hollywood and Mob celebrities, and Robert Kennedy, show up and Collins, as usual, does a good job bringing the characters to life and providing them interesting things to say.
There are some inconsistencies in the official story of Marilyn's death. Like Oliver Stone in JFK, Collins has Heller "expose" what truly happened, explaining all the loose ends in an entertaining fashion. Marilyn was surrounded by lots of people of bad character who make unreliable witnesses; if you Google the story, their is plenty of doubt about what happened and multiple conspiracy theories. Nevertheless, if you like books set in Hollywood during the 50's, you will enjoy this story, even if it doesn't really "solve" Marilyn's death.
The book has a nice pace, very good dialogue, a compelling protagonist, and lots of interesting secondary characters. No computers, no cell phones, no hacking, no Internet...I hate these things and it's nice to read a book without a lot of technology distractions. Recommended!
There are some inconsistencies in the official story of Marilyn's death. Like Oliver Stone in JFK, Collins has Heller "expose" what truly happened, explaining all the loose ends in an entertaining fashion. Marilyn was surrounded by lots of people of bad character who make unreliable witnesses; if you Google the story, their is plenty of doubt about what happened and multiple conspiracy theories. Nevertheless, if you like books set in Hollywood during the 50's, you will enjoy this story, even if it doesn't really "solve" Marilyn's death.
The book has a nice pace, very good dialogue, a compelling protagonist, and lots of interesting secondary characters. No computers, no cell phones, no hacking, no Internet...I hate these things and it's nice to read a book without a lot of technology distractions. Recommended!
March 24, 2019
Collins chief skill appears to be research. He has a wonderful knack for interspersing historical characters alongside historical situations and then inserting a fictional plot seamlessly.
Bye, Bye, Baby surrounds the death of Marilyn Monroe, the Kennedys, Sinatra, the mob, and the LAPD's intel division. As usual, Collin's command of historical reality is like really good icing on a cake.
The story begins very slowly, building up to the death of Marilyn, which we know is going to happen, and setting some groundwork. There are multiple suspects and Heller is his usual smart-aleck bulldog as he won't let go.
It's a good story and a fun read-- but something bothered me-- nagged me -- I mean apparently Heller is sort of like John Shaft-- that sex machine -- It's like every woman in every book wants to fall in bed with Heller. This novel jumps the Shark a bit for me when Heller gets it on with Marilyn... C'mon.... I know she was troubled and emotionally disturbed-- but really? And at times, those types of scenes get a bit explicit... For me-- Heller's sexcapades don't really add to the story-- except for maybe giving him more of an emotional bond with Marilyn and purpose for continuing with the investigation.
Bye, Bye, Baby surrounds the death of Marilyn Monroe, the Kennedys, Sinatra, the mob, and the LAPD's intel division. As usual, Collin's command of historical reality is like really good icing on a cake.
The story begins very slowly, building up to the death of Marilyn, which we know is going to happen, and setting some groundwork. There are multiple suspects and Heller is his usual smart-aleck bulldog as he won't let go.
It's a good story and a fun read-- but something bothered me-- nagged me -- I mean apparently Heller is sort of like John Shaft-- that sex machine -- It's like every woman in every book wants to fall in bed with Heller. This novel jumps the Shark a bit for me when Heller gets it on with Marilyn... C'mon.... I know she was troubled and emotionally disturbed-- but really? And at times, those types of scenes get a bit explicit... For me-- Heller's sexcapades don't really add to the story-- except for maybe giving him more of an emotional bond with Marilyn and purpose for continuing with the investigation.
November 14, 2017
Heller Likes It Hot
It had to happen. The mix of real life crime - in this case the death of Marilyn - and MAC's Nate Heller is an ideal Heller tale. Why? Because these work best when there is a famous dynamic hero or heroine in a direct clinch with our detective. And credit MAC, he has Heller schtup the goddess along with JFK, RFK and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
MAC is on great form here to kick off his Kennedy trio, and Heller delivers sex and violence in the usual proportions. The reader also learns tonnes about the crime, as MAC is a great synthesiser of the real stuff and mixes it well with all his smoke and mirrors. Of course, you take it with a pinch of salt, but you do learn a lot about the real life drama. MAC believes Marilyn was murdered and he lets the murderer have it in the final act.
Very satisfying and completely ridiculous all at the same time.
It had to happen. The mix of real life crime - in this case the death of Marilyn - and MAC's Nate Heller is an ideal Heller tale. Why? Because these work best when there is a famous dynamic hero or heroine in a direct clinch with our detective. And credit MAC, he has Heller schtup the goddess along with JFK, RFK and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
MAC is on great form here to kick off his Kennedy trio, and Heller delivers sex and violence in the usual proportions. The reader also learns tonnes about the crime, as MAC is a great synthesiser of the real stuff and mixes it well with all his smoke and mirrors. Of course, you take it with a pinch of salt, but you do learn a lot about the real life drama. MAC believes Marilyn was murdered and he lets the murderer have it in the final act.
Very satisfying and completely ridiculous all at the same time.
February 12, 2023
Max Allan Collins is one of the most prolific and important writers of crime fiction in America today. You've enjoyed his work, whether you've realized it or not. He's written everything from "Road to Perdition," to the Dick Tracy comic strip, to the "Quarry" series, to CSI episodes, to the Nate Heller novels.
The Heller books are wonderful, old-fashioned noir detective fiction. You can grab any one of them and enjoy a good romp through Chicago (and elsewhere) from the 1940s to the 1960s. The stories often are tied to real events in American history and Collins is known for getting the facts right.
I probably own two dozen books by Collins, and have read many others. I featured this one for a review, because it represents Collins' work well. However, I'm comfortable in saying that if you like crime fiction, you could grab anything he's written and be glad you did.
The Heller books are wonderful, old-fashioned noir detective fiction. You can grab any one of them and enjoy a good romp through Chicago (and elsewhere) from the 1940s to the 1960s. The stories often are tied to real events in American history and Collins is known for getting the facts right.
I probably own two dozen books by Collins, and have read many others. I featured this one for a review, because it represents Collins' work well. However, I'm comfortable in saying that if you like crime fiction, you could grab anything he's written and be glad you did.
October 3, 2021
I have enjoyed Max Allan Collins' Nathan Heller crime mysteries in the past. I especially like the entwining historical references. However, I was personally uncomfortable with the 1st Kennedy trilogy novel, BYE BYE,
BABY. Too much scandal, questionable morality inferences, and Kennedy bashing will keep me from reading the other two parts of the Kennedy trilogy. There are many other Collins noir fiction titles to discover. 3.50 rating. Quick read, probably could find a copy in a grocery checkout line.
BABY. Too much scandal, questionable morality inferences, and Kennedy bashing will keep me from reading the other two parts of the Kennedy trilogy. There are many other Collins noir fiction titles to discover. 3.50 rating. Quick read, probably could find a copy in a grocery checkout line.
June 9, 2021
The 13th Nathan Heller historical mystery has the protagonist investigating the murder of Marilyn Monroe. As always, there are a number of cameos, including the Kennedy’s and Hugh Hefner. Recommended.
April 4, 2022
Sort of like fan fiction, complete with sex scenes (you can’t really blame the guy). Very well-researched and entertaining. I know the timeline of Marilyn’s murder (yes, murder) backward and forward and this is 100% accurate according to all the most recent evidence. Fun!
November 23, 2017
Kick ass Heller tale!
September 5, 2019
Collins inserts Nathan Heller in the saga surrounding the death of Marilyn Monroe, interacting with her, Sinatra, both Kennedy brothers, Giancana, Hoffa, Lawford and many more
October 15, 2019
One of the 11 best mysteries I read in 2011.
May 27, 2020
Fascinating. Felt like I was right there. A great beginning to the JFK Heller trilogy.
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