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Anthony Carrick Mystery #2
First Feature
First Feature is a bitingly wry detective whodunit featuring ex-LAPD's not so celebrated detective Anthony Carrick as he juggles mafia lords, drug addled neophytes, nymphomaniacs, gay counterculture, vegan hippies and tinsel town's dark side in a quest to uncover a homicide in the midst of his own personal turmoil.
Like Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and other hard boiled detectives before him, Anthony Carrick uses his guts, charm and humor to solve murders and deal with the other sordid details of people's lives.
Why was one of Hollywood's premier producers bludgeoned to death with his own Oscar? Amongst a dozen suspicious culprits, can Anthony solve this murder and keep Hollywood's seediness out of the tabloids before LAPD Homicide solves it for him.
Employed by one of the biggest movie production companies in Hollywood, Anthony is working against time. Tinsel Town's image must stay pure. But can he solve the murder before the tabloids publish the immoral truth of Hollywood's darker side? Find out in First Feature. The first of the Anthony Carrick mysteries.
Like Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and other hard boiled detectives before him, Anthony Carrick uses his guts, charm and humor to solve murders and deal with the other sordid details of people's lives.
Why was one of Hollywood's premier producers bludgeoned to death with his own Oscar? Amongst a dozen suspicious culprits, can Anthony solve this murder and keep Hollywood's seediness out of the tabloids before LAPD Homicide solves it for him.
Employed by one of the biggest movie production companies in Hollywood, Anthony is working against time. Tinsel Town's image must stay pure. But can he solve the murder before the tabloids publish the immoral truth of Hollywood's darker side? Find out in First Feature. The first of the Anthony Carrick mysteries.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 2, 2007
15 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 10, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. As I’m a lover of mysteries, this book was entertaining and fun read for me. Anthony Carrick is a private investigator, hired by a major studio to uncover a prominent producer’s death before the media gets involved and starts revealing all the sordid details of the producer’s life. With minimal clues to go on, Carrick begins questioning the obvious suspects. With each suspect, Carrick finds himself falling deeper and deeper into the crazy life of the recently deceased producer. From hookers to lawyers to the mob, Carrick finds himself immersed in a world he’d sooner forget.
Anthony Carrick is a smart-ass, and I love it. His sarcasm actually suits him through and through. He’s rough around the edges, snarky, and clever. When it comes to investigating he seems real old school and enjoys not having to play by the same rules as the police. But despite Carrick’s smart-alecky ways, he has a heart of gold and has a soft spot for true love, his dog Pirate and his daughter Aibhilin. He’s also a starving artist, and investigative work is how he pays the bills. In the book Carrick speaks of a showing at an art gallery that he has set up at the end of the month. I would like to know how the showing would have gone.
But the mystery itself is pretty intriguing. The mystery unfolds slowly and the obvious suspect isn’t always so obvious. As Carrick follows up on each lead, you are drawn more and more into this Hollywood world of drugs, sex, and degradation. You honestly don’t know what is going to happen next or where the tale is going to go. The story is gritty, and engaging, and keeps you guessing up until the very end. With a colorful cast of eccentric characters, Blacker delivers a beautifully crafted and classic whudunnit. So if you love a good mystery, go pick it up! Great book!
Anthony Carrick is a smart-ass, and I love it. His sarcasm actually suits him through and through. He’s rough around the edges, snarky, and clever. When it comes to investigating he seems real old school and enjoys not having to play by the same rules as the police. But despite Carrick’s smart-alecky ways, he has a heart of gold and has a soft spot for true love, his dog Pirate and his daughter Aibhilin. He’s also a starving artist, and investigative work is how he pays the bills. In the book Carrick speaks of a showing at an art gallery that he has set up at the end of the month. I would like to know how the showing would have gone.
But the mystery itself is pretty intriguing. The mystery unfolds slowly and the obvious suspect isn’t always so obvious. As Carrick follows up on each lead, you are drawn more and more into this Hollywood world of drugs, sex, and degradation. You honestly don’t know what is going to happen next or where the tale is going to go. The story is gritty, and engaging, and keeps you guessing up until the very end. With a colorful cast of eccentric characters, Blacker delivers a beautifully crafted and classic whudunnit. So if you love a good mystery, go pick it up! Great book!
July 11, 2011
First-rate hard-boiled detective fiction - prepare to be hooked!
Anthony Carrick is a retired police detective, whose career didn't exactly end with fanfare and commendations, presumably due to a persistent difficulty in following the rules. He's a bit rough, real sarcastic, with a gruff charm. He comes by his attitude through his beat-you-up kind of life experience, and wears his rumples well. He nows works the odd private investigation gig to make ends meet, while he lives a bachelor's life with his one-eyed alley-cat, Pirate. He's intimately familiar with the seedy side of life, and thus sees most things with a jaded eye. In his world, endings are rarely happy, and nice, neat bows don't exist.
In First Feature, a movie producer gets killed with his own Oscar - what a great premise for a story, total Hollywood! There's an eclectic cast of characters in this whodunnit and the reader is treated to many difference slices of life on both sides of the Hollywood dream. Anthony gets caught up in the dark side of Hollywood - the consequences of excess, of losing one's morality, of betrayal and chasing the illusion. Fame, fortune, life, death. A day in the life of La-La land. Hollywood's golden glow is tarnished, leaving a trail of broken dreams in its wake. The story teems with grittiness, authenticity, and rich, colorful detail as Anthony digs deep to catch a murderer. Par for the course for a world based on false fronts, half-truths, and obsessive self-involvement and motivation, he needs to work hard to uncover what's really going on. Many of the players have their own secrets to protect, and he needs to figure out which ones point to murder.
Though Anthony Carrick rubs most people in the story the wrong way, he rubs the reader the right way - he's a believable, down on his luck soul, trying to make something out of the shambles of his life. He wants redemption, maybe even forgiveness for a lot of things in his life. He's still got his smarts, a knack for seeing beneath the surface, and his instincts are as sharp as ever. He navigates life with his own patchwork morality and is armed with a wry sense of humor. He's exactly who you'd want on your side, should you ever be so unfortunate as to need his services.
First Feature is a lively tale, that will keep you turning pages so fast, you'll want to read it in one sitting. Anthony Carrick is the next star of completely addictive detective stories. You'll love this guy, in no time at all he will charm you, and like me, you'll look very forward to spending many more hours with him and solving murder mysteries. Total fun. Pure entertainment. Very well-written. Prepare to be hooked!
-Rai Aren
Anthony Carrick is a retired police detective, whose career didn't exactly end with fanfare and commendations, presumably due to a persistent difficulty in following the rules. He's a bit rough, real sarcastic, with a gruff charm. He comes by his attitude through his beat-you-up kind of life experience, and wears his rumples well. He nows works the odd private investigation gig to make ends meet, while he lives a bachelor's life with his one-eyed alley-cat, Pirate. He's intimately familiar with the seedy side of life, and thus sees most things with a jaded eye. In his world, endings are rarely happy, and nice, neat bows don't exist.
In First Feature, a movie producer gets killed with his own Oscar - what a great premise for a story, total Hollywood! There's an eclectic cast of characters in this whodunnit and the reader is treated to many difference slices of life on both sides of the Hollywood dream. Anthony gets caught up in the dark side of Hollywood - the consequences of excess, of losing one's morality, of betrayal and chasing the illusion. Fame, fortune, life, death. A day in the life of La-La land. Hollywood's golden glow is tarnished, leaving a trail of broken dreams in its wake. The story teems with grittiness, authenticity, and rich, colorful detail as Anthony digs deep to catch a murderer. Par for the course for a world based on false fronts, half-truths, and obsessive self-involvement and motivation, he needs to work hard to uncover what's really going on. Many of the players have their own secrets to protect, and he needs to figure out which ones point to murder.
Though Anthony Carrick rubs most people in the story the wrong way, he rubs the reader the right way - he's a believable, down on his luck soul, trying to make something out of the shambles of his life. He wants redemption, maybe even forgiveness for a lot of things in his life. He's still got his smarts, a knack for seeing beneath the surface, and his instincts are as sharp as ever. He navigates life with his own patchwork morality and is armed with a wry sense of humor. He's exactly who you'd want on your side, should you ever be so unfortunate as to need his services.
First Feature is a lively tale, that will keep you turning pages so fast, you'll want to read it in one sitting. Anthony Carrick is the next star of completely addictive detective stories. You'll love this guy, in no time at all he will charm you, and like me, you'll look very forward to spending many more hours with him and solving murder mysteries. Total fun. Pure entertainment. Very well-written. Prepare to be hooked!
-Rai Aren
February 25, 2013
In the immortal words of Scottie; "I just can't do it, Captain".
The thought of having to slog through the remaining 76% of this book is actually making me want to avoid reading.
It showed a lot of promise and I can't put my finger quite on what it is I don't like but I can't go on.
I do like Pirate though. He's pretty cool.
The thought of having to slog through the remaining 76% of this book is actually making me want to avoid reading.
It showed a lot of promise and I can't put my finger quite on what it is I don't like but I can't go on.
I do like Pirate though. He's pretty cool.
April 25, 2015
If you can set aside the many spelling errors, this is an entertaining murder mystery featuring an artistic, wisecracking private eye.
April 6, 2017
Engrossing. The cover is misleading, and the publisher's blurb is a disservice to the book. There is no Hollywood hype except for the insanity of the lifestyle of the first victim and most of the suspects. Anthony is a careworn ex cop/paint artist working as a PI, who drinks too much, and smokes too much, and has a great snarky sense of humor. His best friend is his former partner from the Department, and they collaborate on the case while trading friendly barbs. The descriptions of the characters and the environments are excellent. The plot is interesting and twisty. The editing is subpar and there are some really jarring notes when there is an auto correct inaccuracy or a completely wrong word used. That kind of thing takes away from the flow in a book that is basically well written.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews