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Death by Hollywood: A Novel
After witnessing the murder of a neighbor, a handsome Latin actor, by his beautiful lover, down-on-his-luck Hollywood screenwriter Bobby Newman uses his hidden knowledge of the crime to seduce the killer and insinuate himself into the murder .Death by .Bochco, .Random House..Publication .2004/03/01..Number of .256..Binding .PAPERBACK..Library of .BL2004001524
256 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2003
20 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Steven Bochco
10 books4 followersSteven Bochco was an American television producer and writer. He developed a number of well-known television series during the 1980s and 1990s, including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Doogie Howser, M.D., and NYPD Blue.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
February 15, 2018
Ok read! both storyline and plot twists were very disappointing. Now i'm a huge fan of a few of Mr.Bochco's tv shows but i do not think he should dive into books/writing because of the poor execution in writing of this book (paperback!)
October 1, 2022
Abandonado en la 150
y ya no puedo mas, esta bien escrito pero con un lenguaje demasiado pasivo agresivo, digamos para que nos entendamos es bastante machorro y señoro, creía que era misógino pero no, el libro odia a todo el mundo, y me cayó tan mal el personaje principal que no puedo seguir con la tontearía.
El hombre ve un asesinato y lo usa para hacer un guion y ganar algo espera pero eso pasa ya a mitad del libro y lo único que hace es meterse con el mundo de la farándula que eso esta muy bien pero no tiene gancho.
y ya no puedo mas, esta bien escrito pero con un lenguaje demasiado pasivo agresivo, digamos para que nos entendamos es bastante machorro y señoro, creía que era misógino pero no, el libro odia a todo el mundo, y me cayó tan mal el personaje principal que no puedo seguir con la tontearía.
El hombre ve un asesinato y lo usa para hacer un guion y ganar algo espera pero eso pasa ya a mitad del libro y lo único que hace es meterse con el mundo de la farándula que eso esta muy bien pero no tiene gancho.
December 3, 2008
Cheesy, tabloidy, and an annoying perspective on Hollywood. I put it down. Although, I did learn the word 'shitbird', so there's that.
September 2, 2025
A burnt out screen writer, in danger of losing his wife, and his whole lifestyle, witnesses a murder through a telescope. He then insinuates himself into the investigation in search of material.
Sort of like something Lee Goldberg would write.
Sort of like something Lee Goldberg would write.
June 23, 2016
I've been a big fan of Steven Bochco's television crime writing - while Hill Street Blues was a bit before my time, I loved LA Law and Doogie Howser, MD as a kid. Then, for my mind, it was actually NYPD Blue that began our current golden age of television writing (most people point to the West Wing/Sopranos when cable TV like HBO started pushing boundaries and delivering very high-quality narratives - but NYPD Blue was truly groundbreaking, and led the way for those shows, even doing so on network television).
More than twenty years on, NYPD Blue still stands up remarkably well if you watch re-runs. I also thought Raising the Bar, a New York legal series Bochco created, was excellent - sadly it didn't last beyond its second season. The vagaries of television land.
So I was both curious and excited when I came across this crime novel from a master of high-quality television crime drama. Could Bochco transfer his screen talents to the page? The premise of the novel certainly seemed interesting: a fading screenwriter witnesses a brutal murder but instead of reporting what he saw finangles himself into the police investigation and the lives of those involved, using it as inspiration to pen his comeback screenplay, but entangling everyone in a dangerous game.
There is plenty to like about DEATH IN HOLLYWOOD, but overall I was left a little underwhelmed. The whole is less than the sum of the parts, and Bochco too often veers quite cheesy, eschewing nuance for lurid Hollywood tales that no doubt have some basis in reality, and would have been very interesting as seasoning or texture to his mystery, but overwhelm it when they're wall-to-wall.
I've had a lifelong interest in Hollywood and the film industry, so would be more forgiving than many readers. But for some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on, DEATH IN HOLLYWOOD never really gelled for me, despite having some interesting characters and events. Too often it felt a bit shallow or thin - which is interesting given that Bochco's television work often had characters of great depth and complexity. There are some good wisecracks, plenty of action and humour, and several 'inside jokes' about the Hollywood scene, and Bochco has an engaging narrative voice.
File this one in the 'airport thriller' category - a relatively entertaining and engaging book in a fascinating if lurid setting that veers cheesy and often seems more style than substance.
But then again, perhaps that's a point Bochco was trying to make about Hollywood life?
More than twenty years on, NYPD Blue still stands up remarkably well if you watch re-runs. I also thought Raising the Bar, a New York legal series Bochco created, was excellent - sadly it didn't last beyond its second season. The vagaries of television land.
So I was both curious and excited when I came across this crime novel from a master of high-quality television crime drama. Could Bochco transfer his screen talents to the page? The premise of the novel certainly seemed interesting: a fading screenwriter witnesses a brutal murder but instead of reporting what he saw finangles himself into the police investigation and the lives of those involved, using it as inspiration to pen his comeback screenplay, but entangling everyone in a dangerous game.
There is plenty to like about DEATH IN HOLLYWOOD, but overall I was left a little underwhelmed. The whole is less than the sum of the parts, and Bochco too often veers quite cheesy, eschewing nuance for lurid Hollywood tales that no doubt have some basis in reality, and would have been very interesting as seasoning or texture to his mystery, but overwhelm it when they're wall-to-wall.
I've had a lifelong interest in Hollywood and the film industry, so would be more forgiving than many readers. But for some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on, DEATH IN HOLLYWOOD never really gelled for me, despite having some interesting characters and events. Too often it felt a bit shallow or thin - which is interesting given that Bochco's television work often had characters of great depth and complexity. There are some good wisecracks, plenty of action and humour, and several 'inside jokes' about the Hollywood scene, and Bochco has an engaging narrative voice.
File this one in the 'airport thriller' category - a relatively entertaining and engaging book in a fascinating if lurid setting that veers cheesy and often seems more style than substance.
But then again, perhaps that's a point Bochco was trying to make about Hollywood life?
April 27, 2018
This book was mentioned in many of the tributes I read to Steven Bochco after his death. Most referred to it as a fun, somewhat dark look at Hollywood. Although it is that, it also doesn't add up to much in the end. There's really no one to care about or much of a conclusion. The narrator's sudden discovery of a conscience felt a bit half-baked. Read this one (if you must) for a few good laughs at Hollywood but not if you like mysteries, thrillers or dark comedy.
January 21, 2025
leer esto fue como leer un capítulo de big mouth que no terminaba más, lleno de puteadas y sexooo. Hay mil partes que se pueden omitir directamente y no afecta en nada la historia, aparte de que siento que no aporta nada nuevo y usa estereotipos re trillados sobre lo que es el ambiente de Hollywood (also usa muchos paréntesis para aclarar boludeces). Trata como tonto al lector y le recuerda y aclara cosas que ya leyó previamente
August 9, 2018
No era para nada lo que me esperaba. Pensé que me iba a encontrar con un libro más interesante pero no fue así.
El problema fue que la trama no es nada atrapante, desde el primer momento se sabe quien es el asesino, y únicamente se lleva al lector por el relato del agente hacia la conclusión de que sucederá si Bobby es descubierto.
El problema fue que la trama no es nada atrapante, desde el primer momento se sabe quien es el asesino, y únicamente se lleva al lector por el relato del agente hacia la conclusión de que sucederá si Bobby es descubierto.
February 9, 2025
Great storyline and intriguing characters. No one is who they appear to be in Hollywood!
December 22, 2022
"A suspenseful, shocking, and darkly comic crime novel about a screenwriter, a billionaire’s wife, a murder, and, of course, a cop." is the description. Written by Steven Bochco, who wrote LA Law and NYPD Blue - loved those shows.
I needed something I thought would be a quick read. Generally I don't seek out detective stories.
I don't follow Hollywood stars or the writing/screenwriting scene, so I found the beginning a bit slow. I stuck with it because I thought it might have some interesting twists. It did. It was sufficiently suspenseful to keep me reading through to the end.
Overall, not my kind of book. Way too much discussion about sex, mostly extramarital, a bit graphic in places, and mostly for career advancement (necessary because of the type of book it was).
I read the book in one day, and once I was into it I was sufficiently interested that I found it suspenseful and didn't set it aside. The only character I could attach myself to was the detective; everyone else was entirely shallow and manipulative. That's what one would expect with the subject matter. It wasn't a bad book. There are people I know whom I could recommend the book to.
I needed something I thought would be a quick read. Generally I don't seek out detective stories.
I don't follow Hollywood stars or the writing/screenwriting scene, so I found the beginning a bit slow. I stuck with it because I thought it might have some interesting twists. It did. It was sufficiently suspenseful to keep me reading through to the end.
Overall, not my kind of book. Way too much discussion about sex, mostly extramarital, a bit graphic in places, and mostly for career advancement (necessary because of the type of book it was).
I read the book in one day, and once I was into it I was sufficiently interested that I found it suspenseful and didn't set it aside. The only character I could attach myself to was the detective; everyone else was entirely shallow and manipulative. That's what one would expect with the subject matter. It wasn't a bad book. There are people I know whom I could recommend the book to.
January 8, 2017
I picked this off the shelf because I needed something I could read in a day (I have book club this afternoon and wanted one more for the bag, which is emptier than usual after reading too many ebooks recently.) This was donated by a friend having a clear out, and I had never heard of the author, who is apparently a well known American script writer, for TV shows I've never watched.
Alcoholic screen-writer Bobby has a severe case of writer's block, so when he witnesses a murder through his telescope while spying on his distant neighbours, instead of reporting it, he visits the scene, steals evidence, befriends the detective and seduces the perpetrator, in order to write a screenplay about it. This is told from the point of view of Bobby's agent, the only non-scumbag in the whole story, with lots of jokes and Hollywood gossip.
I like black comedy and enjoyed the cleverness of stories within stories, but this has a bitter aftertaste and would not appeal to everyone (hence the very polarised GR ratings.)
Alcoholic screen-writer Bobby has a severe case of writer's block, so when he witnesses a murder through his telescope while spying on his distant neighbours, instead of reporting it, he visits the scene, steals evidence, befriends the detective and seduces the perpetrator, in order to write a screenplay about it. This is told from the point of view of Bobby's agent, the only non-scumbag in the whole story, with lots of jokes and Hollywood gossip.
I like black comedy and enjoyed the cleverness of stories within stories, but this has a bitter aftertaste and would not appeal to everyone (hence the very polarised GR ratings.)
February 12, 2012
I love the plot of this one - the only problem is that the motive for one characters switch of heart wasn't explained fully - otherwise first rate.
A fast, funny read.
It's written in the present tense: 'It's later that night, and the air temperature in the Hills is still in the high seventies, thanks to a blast furnace of a Santa Ana blowing in from the desert toward the ocean, leaving Hollywood a hot, glistening jewel under a shimmering starlit sky.'
When, a weather report and where covered thoroughly - so very factual
but balanced with the metaphorical: blast furnace wind, jewel of a city
Sensory description: how hot it is and how the wind is so hot
Glamour: jewels, deserts and shimmering stars
Tripling: hot, glistening jewel and shimmering starlit sky
and alliteration of the S sound to sound like wind and deserts.
Also repeated O sound, which is like wind - blowing, toward, ocean etc
Good beach book - if a little jaded and cynical in tone.
A fast, funny read.
It's written in the present tense: 'It's later that night, and the air temperature in the Hills is still in the high seventies, thanks to a blast furnace of a Santa Ana blowing in from the desert toward the ocean, leaving Hollywood a hot, glistening jewel under a shimmering starlit sky.'
When, a weather report and where covered thoroughly - so very factual
but balanced with the metaphorical: blast furnace wind, jewel of a city
Sensory description: how hot it is and how the wind is so hot
Glamour: jewels, deserts and shimmering stars
Tripling: hot, glistening jewel and shimmering starlit sky
and alliteration of the S sound to sound like wind and deserts.
Also repeated O sound, which is like wind - blowing, toward, ocean etc
Good beach book - if a little jaded and cynical in tone.
May 23, 2018
It's lousy! Not even Dennis Franz (Sipowicz from NYPD Blue) who narrates, can save this dud. I gave up two discs in and 41% completed. The plot is ludicrous nonsense...
This is a complete waste of time when there are better books to read.
This is a complete waste of time when there are better books to read.
April 9, 2011
Abandoned.
Downloaded it on the basis of the Bochco name and it started out not too bad. Some cynical L.A. wit and dialogue.
But then it degenerated into consistent vulgarity and sleaze and no one to really like. I have books waiting that have much more promise like a Sharon McCrumb mystery that opens with the hanging of an elephant for murder. I think. I've only listened to a little bit.
Downloaded it on the basis of the Bochco name and it started out not too bad. Some cynical L.A. wit and dialogue.
But then it degenerated into consistent vulgarity and sleaze and no one to really like. I have books waiting that have much more promise like a Sharon McCrumb mystery that opens with the hanging of an elephant for murder. I think. I've only listened to a little bit.
April 11, 2022
Una muy amena novela negra contada desde el punto de vista de un personaje secundario en la historia, con montones de giros divertidos y un final que deja un muy buen sabor de boca. No pretende trascender más allá del entretenimiento, su mensaje es "Hollywood es la mierda", no es que innove mucho, pero entretener te entretiene de sobra. La segunda vez me ha gustado más que la primera.
October 12, 2007
Didn't finish; don't even remember the premise; just thought it was dumb.
December 2, 2007
Bochco is truly funny. Most of his stuff is a cross between mystery and humor. I adore him!
September 15, 2018
A "trim" read - neat, tidy, economical. A little bit clever, but only a little.
Lots of 'insider' info, stories that were probably based on real life people (actors, producers, writers, directors) but anonymised to protect the author and so lost a lot of their potential thrill.
Quite a few jokes, "the one about the dying Jew who calls the rabbi in …", that got a bit tedious, like the author couldn't find the right way to describe something so kept falling back on jokes, they started to feel like filler.
A breezy read, kind of like a TV script, which I guess makes sense given that's Steve Bochco's background and skillset.
You could probably be doing something else entirely -- talking on the phone, emailing, watching TV - whilst simultaneously reading this and not miss much of the plot.
Lots of 'insider' info, stories that were probably based on real life people (actors, producers, writers, directors) but anonymised to protect the author and so lost a lot of their potential thrill.
Quite a few jokes, "the one about the dying Jew who calls the rabbi in …", that got a bit tedious, like the author couldn't find the right way to describe something so kept falling back on jokes, they started to feel like filler.
A breezy read, kind of like a TV script, which I guess makes sense given that's Steve Bochco's background and skillset.
You could probably be doing something else entirely -- talking on the phone, emailing, watching TV - whilst simultaneously reading this and not miss much of the plot.
June 19, 2020
I think this is my first thriller or w/e ever read. And being an ignorant I am, I have to admit I quite enjoyed it actually. Scenario in a scenario in a scenario in a scenario and who knows how much it would go on, but I still liked it and it kept me entertained throughout the entire book.
I at the same time despise and am drawn to american culture and Hollywood in particular in all its fake glow and glory, misery, shallowness, deceit and greed. I still like to dive into tales of american showbiz and lifestyle every now and then. Probably because it differs from my everyday life so much along with everything I stand for. Of course, I can't know how I would have turned out to be if I spent my life in a pool of piranhas such as Hollywood, so I can criticize and hate but remain ever intrigued too.
I at the same time despise and am drawn to american culture and Hollywood in particular in all its fake glow and glory, misery, shallowness, deceit and greed. I still like to dive into tales of american showbiz and lifestyle every now and then. Probably because it differs from my everyday life so much along with everything I stand for. Of course, I can't know how I would have turned out to be if I spent my life in a pool of piranhas such as Hollywood, so I can criticize and hate but remain ever intrigued too.
February 29, 2024
Okay, I was sure this would be a 3* or an abandoned book. I did, however, read it somehow over many months. Restarted the reading process multiple times and probably finished 10 to 15 books in between. I am impressed now and changed my mind. It's a 5. It has to be read that way, not a story you can just swallow in 3 hours.
The characters are a mess, the story is a mess, and it's not even linear. There's a talking dog that wants to become a president and a dwarf secretly writing scripts. I have no doubt the writer did all of that on purpose. He represented the mess and ignored most principles of writing bestsellers because he could. The 5/5 score is because of this, not because it's particularly easy to read.
The characters are a mess, the story is a mess, and it's not even linear. There's a talking dog that wants to become a president and a dwarf secretly writing scripts. I have no doubt the writer did all of that on purpose. He represented the mess and ignored most principles of writing bestsellers because he could. The 5/5 score is because of this, not because it's particularly easy to read.
December 3, 2023
Ce livre-là ne termine pas dans mes préférés, loin de là. Je ne veux pas juste diminuer l’écriture et l’histoire, car c’était bien pensé et bien écrit. Mais… c’était trop différent, ça sortait trop des sentiers battus pour moi. Je n’arrivais pas à me plonger dans l’histoire, du point de vue décrit. C’était une lecture rapide, je l’ai dévoré quand même, sans l’apprécier à 100 %. Les personnages ne sont pas vraiment développés et ce n’est pas un suspense à couper le souffle, juste une histoire de meurtre racontée par une personne quelconque.
December 1, 2018
I am a huge Bochco fan so what q disappointment that his only novel was all style, little substance with a narrative voice so knowing it comes off as proud of its cleverness like a writer delighting in his mind. There's no likeable character here and the plot becomes utterly predictable. It may illustrate the true depravity of Hollywood's twisted morality but ultimately it left me unsatisfied and needing a shower to cleanse my mind.
August 7, 2019
I listened to this book. It was alright. About a writer who witnesses a murder but doesn't report it as he wants to write the movie script. Then the detective investigating the case figures this out and murders the writer and claims the script as his own. The writer's original agent figures this all out and tells the detective he knows what he did. The story kind of drifts in places and got tedious during those times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2022
Tan entretenida como faltosa. Sobre todo las primeras cincuenta páginas son puras descripciones sexuales, explícitas y burdas. "Muerte en Hollywood" es una novela de comedia negra con dosis de misterio, thriller y asesinatos. Una de las cosas que lo hacen única es que Steven Bochco no escribió novela de ficción alguna más que esta.
Los diálogos y descripciones de las situaciones están narradas impecablemente lo que hacen de esta lectura algo super fluido y adictiva.
Los diálogos y descripciones de las situaciones están narradas impecablemente lo que hacen de esta lectura algo super fluido y adictiva.
October 13, 2018
Picked this up on the basis that I loved "Hill Street Blues", "LA Law" and "NYPD Blues" - three tv shows I adored.
An insiders look at Hollywood from the perspective of a writer and his agent - until the writer witnesses a crime and insinuates himself into the investigation. Its a quick read with a rather interesting twist at the end.
An insiders look at Hollywood from the perspective of a writer and his agent - until the writer witnesses a crime and insinuates himself into the investigation. Its a quick read with a rather interesting twist at the end.
August 16, 2020
Written in the third-person it was hard to differentiate which character was narrating each chapter. Sometimes taking two or three pages just to work out whose point of view we were reading.
It’s a good quick read, it feels like a short story. Its fast paced with constant action. The tone of the writing is very brash.
It’s a good quick read, it feels like a short story. Its fast paced with constant action. The tone of the writing is very brash.
June 30, 2022
I would have selected 5 but just for the ending I am giving it four. A thriller with dark humour and sex!
What a heavenly combo. The way the author wrote this story is so simple and marvellous at the same time. At every page you will enjoy. It has climax and so twisting plots. But the ending could be better.
Definitely, a must read novel!
What a heavenly combo. The way the author wrote this story is so simple and marvellous at the same time. At every page you will enjoy. It has climax and so twisting plots. But the ending could be better.
Definitely, a must read novel!
April 7, 2024
Brutal. Le empecé con pocas expectativas, como un libro más, pero según fue avanzando m
ejoraba. Y el final simplemente espectacular. Un libro de diez. Tiene de todo. Quizas un poco demás de pornografía, pero al fin y al cabo, es lo que le da el toque underground del sucio Hollywood. Como teta en cara.
ejoraba. Y el final simplemente espectacular. Un libro de diez. Tiene de todo. Quizas un poco demás de pornografía, pero al fin y al cabo, es lo que le da el toque underground del sucio Hollywood. Como teta en cara.
August 5, 2017
I know Bochco from his television work, namely "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue." He should stick with television.
Between the glaringly transparent jabs at people he's worked with in the past, the casual misogyny, and the rather juvenile story, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
Between the glaringly transparent jabs at people he's worked with in the past, the casual misogyny, and the rather juvenile story, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
February 14, 2018
Grabbed this from the used book corner in favorite resale shop. Recognized the author's name - of course. Sadly, this is the pits. Didn't even bother finishing it. There are too many good books out there to read rather than waste my time on this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews