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Leviathan Rising
A devilishly dark delight that will leave you grinning ear to ear. Davie's elegant writing means its one you can't tear your eyes from.-- Scott Cumming, A Chapbook About Nothing
Someone is screwing the shark. Viet Nam vet Rook is an expert at finding and ending trouble. In the tradition of the best PIs, Rook has a sidekick. Accompanied by an invisible sidekick, Clarence, a nine foot winged demon, bottom half man, top half goat, think Baphomet from the tarot cards, Rook is sent to the Martha Vineyard’s set of the film Jaws to solve the problems plaguing the production. A body stuffed in a artificial mechanical shark is just the beginning. In this funny, well drawn noir, author Andrew Davie places Rook in a cultural swirl of the War, musicians, actors, screen writers and directors. Like Clarence, the reader is winged along for an entertaining ride.-- John Stickney
Someone is screwing the shark. Viet Nam vet Rook is an expert at finding and ending trouble. In the tradition of the best PIs, Rook has a sidekick. Accompanied by an invisible sidekick, Clarence, a nine foot winged demon, bottom half man, top half goat, think Baphomet from the tarot cards, Rook is sent to the Martha Vineyard’s set of the film Jaws to solve the problems plaguing the production. A body stuffed in a artificial mechanical shark is just the beginning. In this funny, well drawn noir, author Andrew Davie places Rook in a cultural swirl of the War, musicians, actors, screen writers and directors. Like Clarence, the reader is winged along for an entertaining ride.-- John Stickney
117 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2021
About the author
Andrew Davie
61 books6 followersAndrew Davie has worked in theater, finance, and education. He taught English in Macau on a Fulbright Grant and has survived a ruptured brain aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage. in January 2022, he'll begin a Clinical Mental Health MA program.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 13, 2023
A highly unusual delivery with a first-person narration and no chapters.
The story starts with Lew Wasserman recruiting Vietnam veteran Rook [Just Rook!] who comes recommended by Sol [Rook's attorney]. Lew was making a film closer to the Jaws theme and that did not sit well with a crew member. In order to keep the authenticity of the original film, he sabotaged this one.
Rook was hired to find out who did it. He gets to the bottom of it and hands over the name of the culprit. Since the crime was not just sabotaging the shark that played the important role, but also accidental killing of another crew member, Roger. Lew re-hires Rook in the end to engage his Reaper title and settle the score. That bit is left as is.
The author is most definitely a movie buff. There are so many mentions of timeless classics. The end of the book has details on how some of the characters in this book were inspired from. Like Pier Paolo Passolini character was a real-life artist with the same name.
There are excellent sub-stories on special ops in the military, specifically the A-Team. It gives much needed background on the MC Rook but not his full identity.
It was a great read and most of all a short one that I finished in one setting.
The story starts with Lew Wasserman recruiting Vietnam veteran Rook [Just Rook!] who comes recommended by Sol [Rook's attorney]. Lew was making a film closer to the Jaws theme and that did not sit well with a crew member. In order to keep the authenticity of the original film, he sabotaged this one.
Rook was hired to find out who did it. He gets to the bottom of it and hands over the name of the culprit. Since the crime was not just sabotaging the shark that played the important role, but also accidental killing of another crew member, Roger. Lew re-hires Rook in the end to engage his Reaper title and settle the score. That bit is left as is.
The author is most definitely a movie buff. There are so many mentions of timeless classics. The end of the book has details on how some of the characters in this book were inspired from. Like Pier Paolo Passolini character was a real-life artist with the same name.
There are excellent sub-stories on special ops in the military, specifically the A-Team. It gives much needed background on the MC Rook but not his full identity.
It was a great read and most of all a short one that I finished in one setting.
July 2, 2021
Davie brings us a blisteringly fun crime novella from the set of 1978's Jaws where the crew are having problems with the mechanical shark set to appear across the majority of the film. In steps our protagonist to investigate what is going on. Cut together with our main character's military career in Vietnam, this is a riveting, fast read that you won't put down until you've finished.
Davie writes clearly and concisely and throws in plenty of fun 70s cinema cameos along the way. He continues to be one of my recent favourite authors and I'd love to see more of our protag investigating and influencing cinema along the way.
Davie writes clearly and concisely and throws in plenty of fun 70s cinema cameos along the way. He continues to be one of my recent favourite authors and I'd love to see more of our protag investigating and influencing cinema along the way.
August 5, 2023
I love this book for two reasons: Jaws is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I’m a former Hollywood special effect artist. It’s the story of a Vietnam vet on the set of Jaws investigating a murder. It’s a fun, quick-paced adventure story, full of 70’s pop culture references. The mystery is solved in a satisfactory manner, and the novel ends on a high note.. This could be a quick read on a plane or maybe a day on the beach.
August 16, 2023
Intriguing… leaves you wanting more
Rook is a unique character… how many investigators do you know with a personal demon? The plot jumps between Rook’s time in Vietnam and the present day where he helps to solve a murder which threatens to derail the making of Jaws. Along the way, we meet several Hollywood greats, and Rook makes a contribution to several movie and TV series plots.
Rook is a unique character… how many investigators do you know with a personal demon? The plot jumps between Rook’s time in Vietnam and the present day where he helps to solve a murder which threatens to derail the making of Jaws. Along the way, we meet several Hollywood greats, and Rook makes a contribution to several movie and TV series plots.
November 4, 2021
If you haven’t read any of Andrews book you should definitely pick one up. He’s the author of (to name a few) Dig two graves, Land of Allusions and recently, Leviathan riding, published by The Alien Buddha. In this exquisitely witty novel, Andrew Davie sets the scene in 1978 on the set of Jaws. Unfortunately for the production, the mechanical shark is broken and PI Vietnam vet Rook is sent to investigate the issue. The result is an addictive noir with a hint of surrealism, some 1970s stars, some awkward nd unexpected situations and a tight pace that will keep you reading. My favourite thing about this book is not only the sheer enjoyment of reading it but the obvious enjoyment the author had writing it, making every scene a delight.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews