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Eddie Perlmutter Mystery #3
Boca Daze
"The incomparable Eddie Perlmutter returns for another wild and wicked thrill ride across Boca Raton and beyond. I love this guy - and this series."
- Douglas Preston
Retired Boston cop Eddie Perlmutter returns in Steven Forman's Boca Daze. Since moving to Boca Raton, Florida, Eddie's busted Russian counterfeiters, solved at least two murders, thwarted neo-Nazi harassment, and gained justice for a number of those who couldn't do it for themselves.
This "Boca Knight" knows no fear - except perhaps when he's facing the intimate challenge of sex as a sexagenarian. But Eddie may have met his match when he tries to shut down a string of illegal pill mills and finds himself a financial scammer as big as Bernie Madoff.
Armed with his unfailing wit, his Boston-bred fighting skills, and his courage in the face of danger that would make any sensible retiree head for the comfort of his condo, Eddie's walking on gimpy knees straight into the most dangerous game of his never-dull life.
- Douglas Preston
Retired Boston cop Eddie Perlmutter returns in Steven Forman's Boca Daze. Since moving to Boca Raton, Florida, Eddie's busted Russian counterfeiters, solved at least two murders, thwarted neo-Nazi harassment, and gained justice for a number of those who couldn't do it for themselves.
This "Boca Knight" knows no fear - except perhaps when he's facing the intimate challenge of sex as a sexagenarian. But Eddie may have met his match when he tries to shut down a string of illegal pill mills and finds himself a financial scammer as big as Bernie Madoff.
Armed with his unfailing wit, his Boston-bred fighting skills, and his courage in the face of danger that would make any sensible retiree head for the comfort of his condo, Eddie's walking on gimpy knees straight into the most dangerous game of his never-dull life.
350 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2011
31 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Steven M. Forman
5 books10 followersSteven Forman has a college degree from the University of Massachusetts. Forman founded and managed a Seafood Marketing Company. In 1992, Forman and his wife become Snowbirds in Boca Raton, FL. The contrast between Boston and Boca life styles inspired his first book, Boca Knights. His protangonist, Eddie Perlmutter, is a retired police officer who finds himself tempted to use his crime fighting skills with humorous and unpredictable results.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 2, 2012
When I started this book, which I picked up at the library just because it had a bright cover, I concluded after the first few very short chapters that the author was an amateur and that the book would get a two-star rating … but I could not stop turning the pages, and gradually all the disjointed offshoots of action began to coalesce into an acceptable whole that was enlivened by the author’s really odd but amusing humor. Take the line: “Elegantly attired Vanderbilts, Rockfellers, and Morgans were gone forever, and the only Astors at the Breakers were now disasters.” If that is too subtle for you, you may enjoy the occasional conversations the hero has with Mr. Johnson, his favorite male appendage, or the biting sarcasm in much of the dialog whenever the hero gets into a discussion with any of the other characters.
The hero here is one Eddie Perlmutter, a former Boston cop now retired to Boca Raton, Florida, and co-owner of the Boca Knights Detective Agency, with his partner being an incredibly capable computer whiz who started life as a conman but made the mistake of saving Eddie’s life when Eddie had an atrial fibrillation attack while arresting him, instead of running away. It turns out that Eddie Perlmutter is one tough dude and tends to get overly angry about injustices he sees in the world, all while maintaining an ongoing conversation with himself (when he is not talking with Mr. Johnson) about what’s wrong with the world, or talking to the characters he meets along the way. The book is full of intriguing characters, most of whom do not get as fully developed as the reader might like but who provide plenty of interest all the same, including a homeless woman who fights with raccoons and saves baby turtles, a live-in girlfriend from Haiti, a reporter who introduces Eddie to Jameson’s, a young cub reporter dubbed Eddie the Boca Knight in a prequel novel, an ex-Marine who makes friends easily and has a very wholesome out look on the world, a priest from Southie who has a rather broadminded view of his responsibilities, a gang-banger from NYC who now has his own gang in a Miami suburb, and a police chief who lets Eddie get away with too much too often, with the reason for that latter apparently lying in the two preceding novels in this series. Along with them (and that list was not at all complete) come an host of minor characters who provide interest and chuckles, including a doctor who makes the mistake of whacking a golf ball into Eddie’s condo, a nurse who can wisecrack as well as any of the main characters, and the chief chef in a church-run café for the homeless. Do you get the picture that thee is a lot going on in this novel? Believe it!
So—I wound up really liking the book, as you can tell, and now I have to go find the two previous novels in the series. Forman started writing (after a very successful business career selling seafood all over the world) in 2009 and has been knocking them out at the rate of one a year, so there may be a fourth one out there by now; I’ll look for that, too.
The hero here is one Eddie Perlmutter, a former Boston cop now retired to Boca Raton, Florida, and co-owner of the Boca Knights Detective Agency, with his partner being an incredibly capable computer whiz who started life as a conman but made the mistake of saving Eddie’s life when Eddie had an atrial fibrillation attack while arresting him, instead of running away. It turns out that Eddie Perlmutter is one tough dude and tends to get overly angry about injustices he sees in the world, all while maintaining an ongoing conversation with himself (when he is not talking with Mr. Johnson) about what’s wrong with the world, or talking to the characters he meets along the way. The book is full of intriguing characters, most of whom do not get as fully developed as the reader might like but who provide plenty of interest all the same, including a homeless woman who fights with raccoons and saves baby turtles, a live-in girlfriend from Haiti, a reporter who introduces Eddie to Jameson’s, a young cub reporter dubbed Eddie the Boca Knight in a prequel novel, an ex-Marine who makes friends easily and has a very wholesome out look on the world, a priest from Southie who has a rather broadminded view of his responsibilities, a gang-banger from NYC who now has his own gang in a Miami suburb, and a police chief who lets Eddie get away with too much too often, with the reason for that latter apparently lying in the two preceding novels in this series. Along with them (and that list was not at all complete) come an host of minor characters who provide interest and chuckles, including a doctor who makes the mistake of whacking a golf ball into Eddie’s condo, a nurse who can wisecrack as well as any of the main characters, and the chief chef in a church-run café for the homeless. Do you get the picture that thee is a lot going on in this novel? Believe it!
So—I wound up really liking the book, as you can tell, and now I have to go find the two previous novels in the series. Forman started writing (after a very successful business career selling seafood all over the world) in 2009 and has been knocking them out at the rate of one a year, so there may be a fourth one out there by now; I’ll look for that, too.
November 26, 2019
This book is freakin FUNNY! Laugh out loud and wake up the husband kind of funny! If you take your books too seriously, this is not for you - but if you can go with the flow, this book has some of the most entertaining and easy flow dialogue around. Really enjoyed - why isn’t there so much more from this author!! Oh wait! He just released another book!!
November 28, 2017
This guy knows Boca
Terrific characters. Real world issues presented in a fun way make them memorable. I've now read all of Forman's books and look forward to the next. Keep the Boca Knight safe.
Terrific characters. Real world issues presented in a fun way make them memorable. I've now read all of Forman's books and look forward to the next. Keep the Boca Knight safe.
December 26, 2017
Good fun book that reads a little deeper than I might have thought.
Protagonist in this series solves a myriad of challenges and gets them all tied up in the end. Sorry look at southeast Florida. Kinda almost reminds me of McNally series by Laurence Sanders.
Protagonist in this series solves a myriad of challenges and gets them all tied up in the end. Sorry look at southeast Florida. Kinda almost reminds me of McNally series by Laurence Sanders.
August 6, 2018
Fast paced, snappy wise crack dialogue and Boce night always gets his bad guy ... I was hoping for another series like randy Wayne white writes about doc ford, but no such luck.....just an ok book for me....
August 29, 2018
Entertaining. Eddie Perlmutter is a likeable character with flaws but a good heart
Enjoyed reading about Palm Beach County,.
Enjoyed reading about Palm Beach County,.
September 2, 2018
3.5 stars
March 7, 2019
A good read. A dime store gum shoe story. Delved into real time issues in Florida. A good man has to cross the line. All bad folk are not always bad. A gem in the genre.
June 8, 2024
Made me laugh out loud several times. It was a good book.
Read
April 19, 2012Eddie Perlmutter is not your typical Boca Raton retiree. While most of Boca’s citizens find themselves preoccupied with things like golf, bridge tournaments, doctors appointments, and early-bird specials, former Boston detective turned private investigator Eddie tends to find himself caught up in slightly more serious matters.
During his brief time in Boca, Eddie has taken on the Russian mafia and run a group of neo-Nazis out of town on a rail (the cases that earned him the nickname “The Boca Knight”), solved the mystery of a haunted elevator, shut down a cyber-criminal (who’s since become Eddie’s partner), busted up a kidnapping/identity theft ring, and parlayed the financial results of one investigation into a health care clinic for a low income community (Boca Mournings).
Not bad for a sexagenarian with arthritic knuckles, two bum knees, and a pesky prostate.
Boca Daze finds Eddie dealing with a blast from his Boston past when old school criminal Doc Hurwitz, also now retired to Boca, reaches out to Eddie for help. Doc’s granddaughter, Shoshanna, recently overdosed on OxyContin pills she obtained from one of Florida’s infamous “pill mills,” places that churn out thousands of prescriptions for painkillers under questionable – but legal – circumstances. Doc wants Eddie to get the evidence needed to prove the clinic where Shoshanna got her pills is dirty and shut the place down.
Eddie’s barely started on the job when another’s brought to his attention. A homeless man has been attacked and left for dead, and the reporter who recently did a profile about the man wants Eddie to find out who did it, especially since it’s not the first time Boca’s homeless population has been the target of harassment and violence. Throw in a wrong turn that leads Eddie into a confrontation with the Overtown Outlaws in the rough-and-tumble Liberty City area, a massacre at a diner, a house bombing, shady goings on at a local church, and his partner Lou Dewey’s crusade to shut down a financial scam of Bernie Madoff-like proportions and The Boca Knight once again finds his plate more than full. Well, like the man said… he always was a sucker for a good cause.
As he did in Boca Knights and Boca Mournings, author Steve Forman brings Boca Raton to life through Eddie’s wicked sense of humor, with his almost stream of consciousness riffing on all things Boca running throughout the otherwise very serious situations Eddie encounters during the course of his investigations. And that is where Forman truly shines; his ability to use Eddie’s literally laugh out loud observations and top-notch sleuthing skills to raise awareness of important social issues in such a way that is entertaining and enlightening, but without being preachy, is unparalleled. Forman also uses Eddie to show that the ability to live a useful life doesn’t end at retirement, but rather that it’s never too late to take up the flag for a cause you truly believe in.
Eddie Perlmutter continues to be a wonderfully original character, one who manages to uphold the best of the P.I. genre – a dogged investigator solving clever crimes and mysteries – while at the same time turning stereotypes and conventional wisdom about old age on their ear. If you haven’t before, now’s the perfect time to take a trip to Boca.
During his brief time in Boca, Eddie has taken on the Russian mafia and run a group of neo-Nazis out of town on a rail (the cases that earned him the nickname “The Boca Knight”), solved the mystery of a haunted elevator, shut down a cyber-criminal (who’s since become Eddie’s partner), busted up a kidnapping/identity theft ring, and parlayed the financial results of one investigation into a health care clinic for a low income community (Boca Mournings).
Not bad for a sexagenarian with arthritic knuckles, two bum knees, and a pesky prostate.
Boca Daze finds Eddie dealing with a blast from his Boston past when old school criminal Doc Hurwitz, also now retired to Boca, reaches out to Eddie for help. Doc’s granddaughter, Shoshanna, recently overdosed on OxyContin pills she obtained from one of Florida’s infamous “pill mills,” places that churn out thousands of prescriptions for painkillers under questionable – but legal – circumstances. Doc wants Eddie to get the evidence needed to prove the clinic where Shoshanna got her pills is dirty and shut the place down.
Eddie’s barely started on the job when another’s brought to his attention. A homeless man has been attacked and left for dead, and the reporter who recently did a profile about the man wants Eddie to find out who did it, especially since it’s not the first time Boca’s homeless population has been the target of harassment and violence. Throw in a wrong turn that leads Eddie into a confrontation with the Overtown Outlaws in the rough-and-tumble Liberty City area, a massacre at a diner, a house bombing, shady goings on at a local church, and his partner Lou Dewey’s crusade to shut down a financial scam of Bernie Madoff-like proportions and The Boca Knight once again finds his plate more than full. Well, like the man said… he always was a sucker for a good cause.
As he did in Boca Knights and Boca Mournings, author Steve Forman brings Boca Raton to life through Eddie’s wicked sense of humor, with his almost stream of consciousness riffing on all things Boca running throughout the otherwise very serious situations Eddie encounters during the course of his investigations. And that is where Forman truly shines; his ability to use Eddie’s literally laugh out loud observations and top-notch sleuthing skills to raise awareness of important social issues in such a way that is entertaining and enlightening, but without being preachy, is unparalleled. Forman also uses Eddie to show that the ability to live a useful life doesn’t end at retirement, but rather that it’s never too late to take up the flag for a cause you truly believe in.
Eddie Perlmutter continues to be a wonderfully original character, one who manages to uphold the best of the P.I. genre – a dogged investigator solving clever crimes and mysteries – while at the same time turning stereotypes and conventional wisdom about old age on their ear. If you haven’t before, now’s the perfect time to take a trip to Boca.
June 1, 2012
Eddie Perlmutter, a 61-year-old p.i. in Boca Raton, FL, is still a crusader who cannot, it seems, help himself: He has to save whatever otherwise lost causes present themselves, from homeless people living on the streets, beaches or wherever else, to the endangered sea turtles with nests on the shores. A former Boston cop who, as he says, was that city’s “most decorated and demoted policeman in my prime and best marksman on the force,” he retired to Boca three years ago. Widowed for many years, he is now living with his gorgeous [and much younger] Haitian-born girlfriend [whose own claim to fame includes cutting a man’s head off with a machete before leaving Haiti], still working with Louie Dewey, computer genius extraordinaire. Eddie having been dubbed the Boca Knight, and attained not a small bit of celebrity, by a young newspaper reporter, following an anti-Nazi rally in Palm Beach, among other things, he runs the Boca Knights Detective Agency, with Louie’s invaluable assistance.
Louie is only one of many other quirky characters with equally quirky names, e.g., “Three Bag Bailey,” a homeless woman, and Liam Michael “Mad Mick” Murphy, a journalist from Key West. Although brutal and violent in many spots, the book is filled with humor, as were the two earlier entries in this series. He is obviously very fond of his adopted State. Eddie mentions in one instance that “over a thousand endangered species live in South Florida. The Early Bird is not one of them, and in another, when about to drive after sustaining a serious head injury, and asked if he is fit to drive, he responds “I’m in better condition than most drivers in Boca.”
Always a crusader and “a sucker for a good cause,” Eddie promises to look into an attack on a homeless man dubbed “Weary Willie” [after the sad-faced clown of many years ago] - - apparently the homeless problem in Florida just as bad as, if not worse than, any other part of the country - - and uncovers several other criminal activities along the way, including political corruption, and erstwhile pain clinics, really “pill mills,” apparently another blight in Florida, with millions of pills sold annually in strip malls and office parks by non-medical corporations. But the worst crime uncovered is one reminiscent of the Bernie Madoff affair [with the latter even making a cameo appearance].
Don’t let the fact that Eddie is on speaking terms with a particular body part be off-putting; it’s really just another aspect of this very funny book with a wonderful protagonist who has a tendency toward random philosophical musings. It is a terrific and fast read, and I look forward to the next book in the series. Parenthetically, I loved the tip of the hat to the Mystery Bookstore in Pineapple Grove as well.
Highly recommended.
Louie is only one of many other quirky characters with equally quirky names, e.g., “Three Bag Bailey,” a homeless woman, and Liam Michael “Mad Mick” Murphy, a journalist from Key West. Although brutal and violent in many spots, the book is filled with humor, as were the two earlier entries in this series. He is obviously very fond of his adopted State. Eddie mentions in one instance that “over a thousand endangered species live in South Florida. The Early Bird is not one of them, and in another, when about to drive after sustaining a serious head injury, and asked if he is fit to drive, he responds “I’m in better condition than most drivers in Boca.”
Always a crusader and “a sucker for a good cause,” Eddie promises to look into an attack on a homeless man dubbed “Weary Willie” [after the sad-faced clown of many years ago] - - apparently the homeless problem in Florida just as bad as, if not worse than, any other part of the country - - and uncovers several other criminal activities along the way, including political corruption, and erstwhile pain clinics, really “pill mills,” apparently another blight in Florida, with millions of pills sold annually in strip malls and office parks by non-medical corporations. But the worst crime uncovered is one reminiscent of the Bernie Madoff affair [with the latter even making a cameo appearance].
Don’t let the fact that Eddie is on speaking terms with a particular body part be off-putting; it’s really just another aspect of this very funny book with a wonderful protagonist who has a tendency toward random philosophical musings. It is a terrific and fast read, and I look forward to the next book in the series. Parenthetically, I loved the tip of the hat to the Mystery Bookstore in Pineapple Grove as well.
Highly recommended.
March 1, 2012
The Boca Knight is back. Eddie Perlmutter retired from the Boston PD and moved to Boca Raton. Now he runs a detective agency staffed by a former computer hacker and lives with his girlfriend, Cassandra, a nurse from Haiti. Eddie decides to investigate a Bernard Madoff-type investment manager named Benjamin Israel Grove, B.I.G. (get it?). His assistant uncovers Grove's myriad plots and Eddie, Lou and Lou's girlfriend, Joy, become targets. Eddie is also investigating the Florida pill business at the behest of a former Boston acquaintance whose grand-daughter has died from overdosing on Oxycontin. Then there's the dead homeless man, killed at St. Mary's Catholic Church; something isn't right in the basement at St. Mary's. Lots of wise-cracks fly along with the action. This is an enjoyable series if one can get around Eddie's conversations with his penis, Mr. Johnson. Laughs abound.
February 7, 2012
I read a lot. Everything from Lee Child to John Updike, from James Patterson to James Joyce. It is easy to tell when an author is not only a great story teller, but is also having fun writing. Steve Forman tells a great story and has fun doing it. His books are filled with off the cuff remarks and tidbits that keep you reading, make you smile, and at times catch you off guard.
Eddie Perlmutter is the main character in the series and, as I said in the review of "Boca Mournings", is someone you can believe really exists. This is one of the better books I have read in a while, and my only regret is I read it too fast.
Eddie Perlmutter is the main character in the series and, as I said in the review of "Boca Mournings", is someone you can believe really exists. This is one of the better books I have read in a while, and my only regret is I read it too fast.
May 29, 2015
Third in a series of light weight humorous
mysteries set in Boca Raton. Our hero is a retired Boston cop. Florida has rejuvenated him. Not only foes he attract a young beautiful Haitian nurse, he has the strength to beat up bad guys and ignore bullet wounds he receives. He solves three mysteries in this volume and makes new friends too.
mysteries set in Boca Raton. Our hero is a retired Boston cop. Florida has rejuvenated him. Not only foes he attract a young beautiful Haitian nurse, he has the strength to beat up bad guys and ignore bullet wounds he receives. He solves three mysteries in this volume and makes new friends too.
November 27, 2012
Another in the Eddie Pearlmutter series - "Retired" Boston cop transplanted to Boca, but still fighting crime. Fun story line, but not as silly as some others in the genre. Start with Boca Knights first - you need to understand the character.
August 21, 2013
What would happen if Spencer retired to Boca Raton a widower? The Eddie Perlmutter series answers this question. While not quite up to the mastery of Parker, this series provides a good beach read with some spunk.
August 6, 2016
Forman is a wannabe Patterson writer. Similar styles that both bore me.
The book was only good due to the references of Boca Raton, FL since I know the area well.
The story...eh...it was okay...nothing to brag about.
The book was only good due to the references of Boca Raton, FL since I know the area well.
The story...eh...it was okay...nothing to brag about.
September 28, 2014
So funny, as a South Floridian I appreciate the humor and local flavor of the characters. The Knight delivers once again a trail of crusades won, while keeping it real regarding the tourists, elderly and excess that make So Fl special
March 3, 2012
If you don't have anything better to do and your expectations aren't too high this would be an OK read.
Read
March 5, 2012Retired Boston hero cop now Boca Raton hero PI Eddie Perlmutter investigates a Madoff like ponzi scheme, an attack on a homeless clown and a pill mill.
March 31, 2012
was OK
June 6, 2012
The best of the "Boca" series. I loved it from begining to end.
June 11, 2012
2012 FUNNY quick read who done it ..he wrote 2 other books!
January 10, 2013
Usually I like a story that has a lot going on but this was just too much. Some very funny lines and liked some of the story lines but in the end I was looking forward to the ending. Edit maybe?
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November 19, 2017awful!!! first book I never finished
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews