South Beach Shakedown: The Diary of Gideon Pike

Caribbean Mystery #3

by Don Bruns

Someone is about to make a killing in the music industry. Why would songwriting legend Gideon Pike mysteriously disappear just when he is about to turn his 30-year career into a multi-million dollar profit? Music columnist Mick Sever is back in Don Bruns' third suspense masterpiece. This time he's looking for answers and his missing friend in the gritty backrooms of South Beach's biggest nightclubs, dodging suicide speedboats and running from sniper fire. What surfaces is how the major players in the music industry are not making the headlines, they're just pulling the strings that create them. Hit it right and the royalties, even someone else's, can rake in millions for the rest of your life. The key is finding Gideon before Korean mobster Jimmy Shinn does. Jimmy is ready to cash in on the one secret that will bring Gideon to his knees and strip away what's left of his career, his fortune, and his life. Whoever gets to Gideon first will either save him or pull the trigger. The deadly race is on.

Genres: Mystery

288 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2006

About the author

Don Bruns is a writer, novelist, musician, songwriter, painter, cook, advertising executive and stand up comic who has no idea what he wants to be when he grows up. He's the author of nine books and was editor of the mystery/music anthology A Merry Band Of Murderers.

Don's published novels cover two series. One, a Caribbean thriller collection and two, the Stuff series, a humorous look at two twenty-four year old guys in South Florida who start their own detective agency and end up neck - deep in trouble.

Jamaica Blue, Barbados Heat, South Beach Shakedown, St. Barts Breakdown and Bahama Burnout make up the Caribbean books. The Stuff series consists of Stuff To Die For, Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, Stuff To Spy For, and Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. Bruns is currently working on the fifth Stuff book, Too Much Stuff.

He currently resides on Florida's West coast.

Bahama Burnout/ Finalist, National Best Books Award - Mystery/Suspense 2009
South Beach Shakedown/ Winner National Best Books Award -Fiction/Suspense 2006
South Beach Shakedown/ Winner, Indie Excellence, 2006 Award - Mystery/Suspense
South Beach Shakedown/ Winner USA Book Award, 2006 - Mystery
Stuff Dreams Are Made Of/ Winner Indie Excellence Award 2009 - Mystery/Suspense
Stuff Dreams Are Made Of/IndieBound Notable, October 2008
Stuff Dreams Are Made Of/Winner Florida Writer's Association -
Stuff To Die For/ Starred review Booklist

Reviews

[Lynn Weigand · Rating 2 out of 5]

I "stuck" with this book because I hate to quit ... but it was a challenge. I did not like the writing; felt very juvenile to me. I gave it two stars because it WAS a bit better than the worst books I've ever read so there's that. The characters were NOT developed, the story was oh so predictable, and as a person who reads ALOT of mysteries and thrillers, it was not well written. If you have some beach time you may find it mindless entertainment. I did not.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gideon Pike goes missing. Nobody knows if the man killed his gay lover and fled, if he's hiding from the real killer, or if he's skipped town on one of his occasional trips that usually happen when Pike owes someone money.

Even after I read this book, I still wasn't sure whether I liked Gideon Pike or not. The guy seemed like such a sleaze at times, had so many secrets, and had layer upon layer of hidden lives that I wasn't really sure if I ever got to see the real man behind all the smoke and mirrors. Moreover, when finally faced with the complex realities and dynamic personality of the man, I wasn't sure how much of the made up situations and fantasies that Pike actually believed.

Despite this, or more likely because of these aspects, I couldn't seem to put this book down. I was so eager to figure out if Pike was still alive, who had committed the murders, and the real truth behind all the deceptions that I had to keep turning the pages.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda trashy. Some of the characters were pretty thinly veiled fictionalizations of actual personalities, I think. A few elements of the story were not well justified or explained. Still, fun stuff, and just the thing to get you through waiting in a hospital waiting room for hours.

[Pam]

04/25/08 purchased at MOTB author signing

[Anne-Kathrine]

On kindle

[Frannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of long but decent. There were a few points where I thought the story was going nowhere, but then a few twists and turns showed up. Stuck with it.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly gripping book that left me unable to put it down. Drama, murder, and great characters. Can't wait to read more of Don's books.

[Sandra L. Raffay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy the book