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Blonde Lightning: A Novel
In Earthquake Weather, Terrill Lee Lankford mined his own experiences as a player in the glamorous, ruthless movie business to create a West Coast noir hailed by T. Jefferson Parker as “part Raymond Chandler and part Nathanael West.” Now get ready for another thrill ride down the Boulevard of Broken Dreams–where a wrong turn can lead to a very dead end.
Out of work in The Industry, Mark Hayes decides he’s desperate enough to hitch his wagon to the dubious star of Clyde McCoy, a hard-drinking veteran screenwriter known only too well for being difficult. Clyde has secured the backing to produce his latest script, a noir homage called Blonde Lightning. With a popular action star and a sexy up-and-comer on board in the lead roles, he’s cleaning up his act, dusting off his director’s chair, and is determined to make the picture happen.
For investing the last of his savings into the production, Mark gets the title of associate producer. However, his real job is on-set troubleshooter–his duties ranging from keeping a randy old character actor on a short leash to caring for and feeding some very high-maintenance investors. But the real trouble starts when a crewmember is nearly electrocuted. Clyde suspects sabotage, compliments of Mace Thornburg, an industry bottom-feeder with a grudge against nearly everyone in Hollywood, including Clyde’s martial-arts-actress girlfriend. After she’s almost killed in another suspicious accident, Clyde and Mark resort to drastic measures to exact revenge. But when the payback plot takes an unscripted turn, the deadly drama is suddenly no longer in front of the cameras.
Now, trapped like a pawn in a classic double-cross scenario, Mark realizes the only way out is for him and Clyde to wade deeper into a violent nightmare of treachery, lies, and murder as black and inescapable as the La Brea tar pits. It’s a trip Clyde seems more than willing to take . . . and that Mark discovers is part of the high price for finally getting his name on the silver screen.
From the Hardcover edition.
Out of work in The Industry, Mark Hayes decides he’s desperate enough to hitch his wagon to the dubious star of Clyde McCoy, a hard-drinking veteran screenwriter known only too well for being difficult. Clyde has secured the backing to produce his latest script, a noir homage called Blonde Lightning. With a popular action star and a sexy up-and-comer on board in the lead roles, he’s cleaning up his act, dusting off his director’s chair, and is determined to make the picture happen.
For investing the last of his savings into the production, Mark gets the title of associate producer. However, his real job is on-set troubleshooter–his duties ranging from keeping a randy old character actor on a short leash to caring for and feeding some very high-maintenance investors. But the real trouble starts when a crewmember is nearly electrocuted. Clyde suspects sabotage, compliments of Mace Thornburg, an industry bottom-feeder with a grudge against nearly everyone in Hollywood, including Clyde’s martial-arts-actress girlfriend. After she’s almost killed in another suspicious accident, Clyde and Mark resort to drastic measures to exact revenge. But when the payback plot takes an unscripted turn, the deadly drama is suddenly no longer in front of the cameras.
Now, trapped like a pawn in a classic double-cross scenario, Mark realizes the only way out is for him and Clyde to wade deeper into a violent nightmare of treachery, lies, and murder as black and inescapable as the La Brea tar pits. It’s a trip Clyde seems more than willing to take . . . and that Mark discovers is part of the high price for finally getting his name on the silver screen.
From the Hardcover edition.
- GenresMystery
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 14, 2013
Mark Hayes finds himself virtually out of the movie biz after the murder of his boss and the death of his girl friend(from EARTHQUAKE WEATHER) and takes a job from his old friend Clyde McCoy working on a direct-to-video low budget thriller.
BLONDE LIGHTNING is the script and they've lined up an action star and a hot newcomer for the leads and, though the budget is extremely low(Mark has put most of his last funds into it himself), everybody worjs hard to pull it off.
Things start to happen though. Clyde's girl friend has a loudmouth claiming to be her manager and wants his half of her cut. A technician on the film is nearly electrocuted, the three of them are nearly killed in a suspicious car accident, threats come from the "manager" by phone to nearly everybody involved.
Mark keeps getting deeper into a morass of violence such that he wonder if he can ever get out.
Author Terrill Lankford knows the movie business and weaves a good thriller here, giving us an insight into the decidedly vicious world of movie making where the next knife in one's back could come from the fellow next to you.
Recommended.
BLONDE LIGHTNING is the script and they've lined up an action star and a hot newcomer for the leads and, though the budget is extremely low(Mark has put most of his last funds into it himself), everybody worjs hard to pull it off.
Things start to happen though. Clyde's girl friend has a loudmouth claiming to be her manager and wants his half of her cut. A technician on the film is nearly electrocuted, the three of them are nearly killed in a suspicious car accident, threats come from the "manager" by phone to nearly everybody involved.
Mark keeps getting deeper into a morass of violence such that he wonder if he can ever get out.
Author Terrill Lankford knows the movie business and weaves a good thriller here, giving us an insight into the decidedly vicious world of movie making where the next knife in one's back could come from the fellow next to you.
Recommended.
April 6, 2010
Lankford's writing is crisp and clean and, in true noir fashion, there is but one reedeemable character in this tale (and it's not the main protagonist). Even though the book held my interest almost all the way through, I felt empty upon completion, much like the Hollywood denizens the book describes.
May 17, 2014
Earthquake Weather and Blonde Lightning follow the fortunes of would-be filmmaker Mark Hayes and his neighbour, writer-director Clyde McCoy.
In Blonde Lightning, Clyde is producing and directing a film noir he wrote years earlier. Mark invests his meager savings and works as general troubleshooter on the set. A psycho named Thornburg who has it in for Clyde’s girlfriend (for a very Hollywood reason) is apparently sabotaging the film. How far will people go to make their films or thwart others? We find out as Hayes and McCoy sink deeper into crime each day. Moviemaking is a cutthroat business, all right.
The books provide an inside look at the industry. They’rere funny and the descriptions are great, especially of the earthquakes. And practically all the characters are named after noir writers.
In Blonde Lightning, Clyde is producing and directing a film noir he wrote years earlier. Mark invests his meager savings and works as general troubleshooter on the set. A psycho named Thornburg who has it in for Clyde’s girlfriend (for a very Hollywood reason) is apparently sabotaging the film. How far will people go to make their films or thwart others? We find out as Hayes and McCoy sink deeper into crime each day. Moviemaking is a cutthroat business, all right.
The books provide an inside look at the industry. They’rere funny and the descriptions are great, especially of the earthquakes. And practically all the characters are named after noir writers.
Want to read
December 8, 200712/08/07 rec via pbs
October 21, 2013
Lankford's sardonic and sometimes macabre sense of humor lifted a good Hollywood story up another notch...highly enjoyable. It's fun to imagine the real actors behind the thin fictional veils too.
June 15, 2014
everymans rules of scientific living
July 5, 2016
Better than his other books.
I found learning the ins and outs of the B--movie business more interesting than the main plot. Not very realistic.
I found learning the ins and outs of the B--movie business more interesting than the main plot. Not very realistic.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews