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Munch Mancini #5
No Man Standing
Against the odds, Munch Mancini pulled herself out of a dead-end life of drugs and booze, transforming into a high-class mechanic, the owner of a fledgling limo business, and a good mother to her daughter. But she hasn't forgotten her old friend Ellen Summers. Munch and Ellen were young and foolish together. But where Munch went straight, Ellen went to prison. Now, one day before her release, someone murders Ellen's mother and stepfather -- and the killer is convinced Ellen has something he wants. Alone and frightened, she runs to Munch for help. Though Ellen's story doesn't add up, the danger proves to be most definitely real. Unwilling to trust the police for fear of sending Ellen back to prison, Munch embarks on a mission to find the killer and get her friend out of trouble one last time -- before trouble comes looking for her. With riveting action and one of the most unconventional and appealing heroines in all of crime fiction, Barbara Seranella delivers her best novel yet.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 30, 2002
2 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Seranella
11 books19 followersBarbara Seranella was an American author known for her gripping crime novels. Growing up in Pacific Palisades, California, she ran away at 13 to San Francisco, joining a hippie commune and learning auto mechanics on the streets. Seranella later married Walter Haring and became a devoted mother to Michera Nicole Colella and Maryann Colella, raising both girls as her own. Drawing on her adventurous early life and sharp observations, she authored more than ten novels, including No Human Involved, No Offense Intended, and Deadman's Switch, blending crime, suspense, and realism. Seranella lived in La Quinta and Laguna Beach, California, and passed away in 2007 while awaiting a liver transplant.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 1, 2014
Boy, can this author write. Hard, restless, muscular prose that drives the story relentlessly forward. Barbara Saranella is in full command of her work. Just as her hero, Munch Mancini is in control of her life—pretty much. She should be. Mancini is an unusual anti-hero—almost. She’s defied parental control, been on the street, run away, done drugs and knows an almost incredible array of those who regularly travel the mean streets of any large city, particularly Los Angeles, where this story takes place.
Mancini is getting her life together, what with a regular job as an auto mechanic and her start-up limousine service. She’s managed to put together a deal to buy a house, and her relationship with her eight-year old daughter is improving every day. But then trouble arrives in the shape of long-time girlfriend Ellen Summers. Mancini believes in relationships, almost to a fault. So when Ellen’s mother and stepfather are murdered and Ellen, ex-druggie, ex-stripper ex-thief is released from jail, Munch is immediately and unwillingly swept up in a swirling cesspool of low-life thievery, gun-play and deadly attempts to find hidden boodle.
There are clever twists, crackling blunt dialogue while Munch has some second thoughts about helping Ellen in what is becoming more and more evidently a criminal enterprise. She doesn’t want to become collateral damage. More importantly she doesn’t want any of this to touch her daughter, Asia. But Munch Mancini is not one to sit around wallowing in self-pity or wringing her hands worrying about whether she’s up to the challenges life is throwing at her. Get out there and do it sister! That’s her thing and let the chips—and bodies—fall where they may. I say bravo. One terrific novel.
Mancini is getting her life together, what with a regular job as an auto mechanic and her start-up limousine service. She’s managed to put together a deal to buy a house, and her relationship with her eight-year old daughter is improving every day. But then trouble arrives in the shape of long-time girlfriend Ellen Summers. Mancini believes in relationships, almost to a fault. So when Ellen’s mother and stepfather are murdered and Ellen, ex-druggie, ex-stripper ex-thief is released from jail, Munch is immediately and unwillingly swept up in a swirling cesspool of low-life thievery, gun-play and deadly attempts to find hidden boodle.
There are clever twists, crackling blunt dialogue while Munch has some second thoughts about helping Ellen in what is becoming more and more evidently a criminal enterprise. She doesn’t want to become collateral damage. More importantly she doesn’t want any of this to touch her daughter, Asia. But Munch Mancini is not one to sit around wallowing in self-pity or wringing her hands worrying about whether she’s up to the challenges life is throwing at her. Get out there and do it sister! That’s her thing and let the chips—and bodies—fall where they may. I say bravo. One terrific novel.
May 26, 2021
I was worried when I read that Munch’s best friend Ellen was out of prison. Ellen could only mean trouble for Miranda “Munch” Mancini, now eight years sober and doing well in her life. Just as Munch is packing up and moving on to a new phase in her life in a new home, Ellen shows up on her doorstep. There is no way Munch would turn her away, especially with the news that her mother and stepfather were brutally murdered the day before Ellen was released from prison. But she sure brings trouble with her.
Ellen came into a bit of money just before going to prison. The previous owners want the money back. Problem is that not only did they come by it illegally but it is counterfeit as well. Chances are that those same people thought they might find Ellen’s stash at her mother’s home and ended up killing her in the process. The feds want the money too, not to mention the various people to whom Ellen managed to brag about her haul.
Since a flyer featuring Ellen at the exotic dance club The Spearmint Rhino was found at the murder scene, the investigation moves there where some things and some people haven’t changed. The club’s owner seems to be connected to the death of another dancer. A so-called private detective just happens to show up at the club when Ellen and Munch visit, trying to piece things together. They all want the money, and Ellen is caught not knowing who to trust when her father, a colonel in the Army, shows up and promises to help Ellen solve her dilemma.
In the meantime, Munch begins to rely on one of the investigating detectives, much to their mutual enjoyment. Munch’s personal feelings get jumbled with her knowledge that the police will be the ones to sort through this quandary. She is ready to move on to a new relationship yet is always wary of a new man’s reaction to her rap sheet from the past.
Munch has made enormous progress in her recovery since she was introduced to us in Barbara Seranella’s first book NO HUMAN INVOLVED. She is hesitant to accept help from others yet she is beginning to make friends who offer their assistance with no strings attached. As she visits people who were once her associates, she is thankful that she is out of that rough life, even as she appreciates how vulnerable her recovery is and how hard she must continue to work it, one day at a time.
Believing that sobriety is the way to go, Munch does not force it upon her friends nor preach to them. It is simply her way of life now, and that wish to stay sober drives her growth. Her desire to be a good mother to her adopted daughter Asia guides her path. The steady job as a mechanic she has held for many years roots her in the world. Lessons learned the hard way are always just underneath the surface although Munch has not been beaten by them. Rather she is a much stronger woman for the experiences she has survived.
I enjoy Barbara Seranella’s style of writing. The story begins on a cautious, leisurely pace and slowly gains speed as facts and characters round out the narrative. What begins as a straight line quickly grows into a complex, yet not convoluted, design. The plot of finding a home for the counterfeit money played well off Munch’s efforts to maintain and improve her new life all the while Ellen is trying to sort out just what role she plays in it. Most of all, this is a book about friendship and its value in our lives. Munch has my admiration for surviving and thriving in her new life.
Ellen came into a bit of money just before going to prison. The previous owners want the money back. Problem is that not only did they come by it illegally but it is counterfeit as well. Chances are that those same people thought they might find Ellen’s stash at her mother’s home and ended up killing her in the process. The feds want the money too, not to mention the various people to whom Ellen managed to brag about her haul.
Since a flyer featuring Ellen at the exotic dance club The Spearmint Rhino was found at the murder scene, the investigation moves there where some things and some people haven’t changed. The club’s owner seems to be connected to the death of another dancer. A so-called private detective just happens to show up at the club when Ellen and Munch visit, trying to piece things together. They all want the money, and Ellen is caught not knowing who to trust when her father, a colonel in the Army, shows up and promises to help Ellen solve her dilemma.
In the meantime, Munch begins to rely on one of the investigating detectives, much to their mutual enjoyment. Munch’s personal feelings get jumbled with her knowledge that the police will be the ones to sort through this quandary. She is ready to move on to a new relationship yet is always wary of a new man’s reaction to her rap sheet from the past.
Munch has made enormous progress in her recovery since she was introduced to us in Barbara Seranella’s first book NO HUMAN INVOLVED. She is hesitant to accept help from others yet she is beginning to make friends who offer their assistance with no strings attached. As she visits people who were once her associates, she is thankful that she is out of that rough life, even as she appreciates how vulnerable her recovery is and how hard she must continue to work it, one day at a time.
Believing that sobriety is the way to go, Munch does not force it upon her friends nor preach to them. It is simply her way of life now, and that wish to stay sober drives her growth. Her desire to be a good mother to her adopted daughter Asia guides her path. The steady job as a mechanic she has held for many years roots her in the world. Lessons learned the hard way are always just underneath the surface although Munch has not been beaten by them. Rather she is a much stronger woman for the experiences she has survived.
I enjoy Barbara Seranella’s style of writing. The story begins on a cautious, leisurely pace and slowly gains speed as facts and characters round out the narrative. What begins as a straight line quickly grows into a complex, yet not convoluted, design. The plot of finding a home for the counterfeit money played well off Munch’s efforts to maintain and improve her new life all the while Ellen is trying to sort out just what role she plays in it. Most of all, this is a book about friendship and its value in our lives. Munch has my admiration for surviving and thriving in her new life.
September 13, 2021
Miranda "Munch" Mancini is a mechanic and a mother to an adopted little girl. She chose to get straight and get out of the life. Unfortunately, her best friend, Ellen, did not. Ellen is in jail when her mother and step-father are murdered. Munch loved Lila Mae and wants to track down the person responsible for her death. But the dead bodies are piling up, most of them from the days when Munch and Ellen were in the street life. Munch has a lot to protect, her sobriety and her daughter. Ellen continues to spread mayhem in Munch's life and Munch's love for Ellen might derail her entire life. This was such an entertaining series. I was very sad when Barbara Seranella died.
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May 28, 2014Last Man Standing, by Barbara Seranella, a-minus, Narrated by Paul Boehmer, Produced by audible inc. downloaded from audible.com.
In this, the fifth Munch Mansini book, Munch’s friend Ellen, (best friend in her teenage years, but whom she lost track of after she went straight) while Ellen ended up still on alcohol and drugs and back in prison, is finally being released. The day before she gets out of prison, Ellen’s mother and stepfather are murdered. Ellen believes it has to do with the fact that she ended up stealing money from someone who tried to kidnap her-money she hid while she went to prison. Many people are after this money, including the FBI and Dept. of the Treasury. Ellen is frightened because she doesn’t know who she can trust after getting out of prison. She ends up calling Munch. Ellen’s real father shows up as well, and Ellen is full of hope that he will finally be a real “daddy” to her. As Munch tries to help Ellen without becoming more entangled in the mess herself, Munch also learns that her father might not be the savior his daughter hopes for. Munch’s daughter, Asia, is now eight years old, and Munch has finally earned enough money to buy a house which she is moving into. She is becoming interested in a cop, as she has finally accepted that she and Detective St. John will never get together. This is a definite thriller with people getting killed right and left, but there are surprises all the way to the end.
In this, the fifth Munch Mansini book, Munch’s friend Ellen, (best friend in her teenage years, but whom she lost track of after she went straight) while Ellen ended up still on alcohol and drugs and back in prison, is finally being released. The day before she gets out of prison, Ellen’s mother and stepfather are murdered. Ellen believes it has to do with the fact that she ended up stealing money from someone who tried to kidnap her-money she hid while she went to prison. Many people are after this money, including the FBI and Dept. of the Treasury. Ellen is frightened because she doesn’t know who she can trust after getting out of prison. She ends up calling Munch. Ellen’s real father shows up as well, and Ellen is full of hope that he will finally be a real “daddy” to her. As Munch tries to help Ellen without becoming more entangled in the mess herself, Munch also learns that her father might not be the savior his daughter hopes for. Munch’s daughter, Asia, is now eight years old, and Munch has finally earned enough money to buy a house which she is moving into. She is becoming interested in a cop, as she has finally accepted that she and Detective St. John will never get together. This is a definite thriller with people getting killed right and left, but there are surprises all the way to the end.
June 16, 2011
I can't say I was as entralled with Munch in this book as I have been before. I certainly enjoyed it though and I'll keep reading the series. I liked how the mysteries in this book tied back to the story in the previous book so that it seemed like a continuation rather than 'Munch finds herself a whole new set of trouble'.
March 2, 2013
A fast paced, easy reading book. Munch Mancini is once again reluctantly involved with some shady events and characters as a friend she has know for years gets out of prison and falls smack into trouble. People start showing up dead and there is some money floating around that many people want to claim.
June 11, 2013
This book was a nice surprise! I paid a few cents for it and had it on my shelf for quite a while. I picked it up on Saturday morning and by the end of chapter one I was all in. The mystery/crime novel has a main character that is wonderful - munch a woman mechanic.
If you enjoy crime mysteries you will enjoy this one.
If you enjoy crime mysteries you will enjoy this one.
November 13, 2007
read 07.23.07
Want to read
February 6, 2008Munch Mancini Bk 5
March 9, 2011
Munch at it again. wish their were more.
December 19, 2016
Re-read from several years ago. Still gritty, raw, and a good story.
February 4, 2015
Disappointing, I expected more than what the book offers. No surprises, very predictable.
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January 9, 2010ereader ebook
Read
August 23, 2018Got to page 175 and the next 25 pages were missing!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews