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Rat Pack Mysteries #4
You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Kills You
Eddie G.?s services have been enlisted again, this time to help Marilyn Monroe, who thinks she?s being followed.
274 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2009
1 person is currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Robert J. Randisi
243 books106 followersRobert Joseph Randisi was a prolific American author, editor, and screenwriter, best known for his work in detective and Western fiction. He wrote over 650 books, including The Gunsmith series under the pen name J.R. Roberts, and edited more than 30 anthologies. A co-founder of Mystery Scene magazine, the American Crime Writers League, and Western Fictioneers, he also established The Private Eye Writers of America and created the Shamus Award. Randisi collaborated on novels with Eileen Davidson and Vince Van Patten, and created memorable characters such as Miles Jacoby, Joe Keough, and The Rat Pack. He received multiple lifetime achievement awards and the John Seigenthaler Humanitarian Award.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 12, 2021
Eddie G. gets involved with the Rat Pack once again. Marilyn Monroe thinks she's being followed, and is wracked with guilt after being blamed by the scandal sheets for Clark Gable's death. Meanwhile, Frank Sinatra is preparing his mansion for JFK's aborted visit.
Nothing works out particularly well for any of them.
I read Max Allan Collins's book on the Marilyn Monroe death fairly recently, and it was interesting comparing how two peers viewed the same situation.
Nothing works out particularly well for any of them.
I read Max Allan Collins's book on the Marilyn Monroe death fairly recently, and it was interesting comparing how two peers viewed the same situation.
May 27, 2023
Well this was fun.
I'm not a big fan of the Rat Pack, but I am a big fan of the Rat Pack era. Robert Randisi, he of the hundreds of novels, came up with a fantastic idea when he decided to set a series of mysteries in the early sixties and make Frank, Dean, and Sammy characters in the stories. Randisi is a middling writer, and there are a couple of places where this novel drags, but I still had fun with it.
This installment, which is #4 in the series, features a very fragile Marilyn Monroe who is convinced that someone with nefarious intentions is following her. She tells Dean Martin, who, as a favor, hires a Sands Hotel employee he trusts to keep an eye on her. It's that employee, "Eddie G", who tells the story in first person.
The story was an average mystery. My understanding is that the author took a little-known actual incident and spun a fictional story around it.
What I enjoyed were all the celebrity mentions, cameo appearances, and bit players that Randisi dropped into the story. In addition to the Rat Packers, there was Mamie Van Doren, Peggy Lee, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Juliet Prowse, Ava Gardner, Bobby Kennedy, and of course, Marilyn Monroe. If the bibliography in the back of the book is any indication, Randisi did a lot of research. He did seem to capture the personalities of the Rat Packers...as least as I have seen them on TV and what little I know about them. Dean calling a friend "Pally" seemed just right.
I have known about these books, but never seen them in the wild. Recently, I walked into a thrift store and found four of them. I enjoyed this one enough to read another. We'll see how it goes from there.
I'm not a big fan of the Rat Pack, but I am a big fan of the Rat Pack era. Robert Randisi, he of the hundreds of novels, came up with a fantastic idea when he decided to set a series of mysteries in the early sixties and make Frank, Dean, and Sammy characters in the stories. Randisi is a middling writer, and there are a couple of places where this novel drags, but I still had fun with it.
This installment, which is #4 in the series, features a very fragile Marilyn Monroe who is convinced that someone with nefarious intentions is following her. She tells Dean Martin, who, as a favor, hires a Sands Hotel employee he trusts to keep an eye on her. It's that employee, "Eddie G", who tells the story in first person.
The story was an average mystery. My understanding is that the author took a little-known actual incident and spun a fictional story around it.
What I enjoyed were all the celebrity mentions, cameo appearances, and bit players that Randisi dropped into the story. In addition to the Rat Packers, there was Mamie Van Doren, Peggy Lee, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Juliet Prowse, Ava Gardner, Bobby Kennedy, and of course, Marilyn Monroe. If the bibliography in the back of the book is any indication, Randisi did a lot of research. He did seem to capture the personalities of the Rat Packers...as least as I have seen them on TV and what little I know about them. Dean calling a friend "Pally" seemed just right.
I have known about these books, but never seen them in the wild. Recently, I walked into a thrift store and found four of them. I enjoyed this one enough to read another. We'll see how it goes from there.
February 25, 2013
Titles like You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Kills You are initially what pulled me into the Rat Pack Mystery series. Robert J. Randisi has a sense of humor, an encyclopedic knowledge of classic Las Vegas from the late ‘50s to early ‘60s, and a remarkable grasp of nearly every conspiracy theory that surrounded Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and nearly anyone else getting their “five minutes of fame” during that era. Yet, he combines those three elements with engaging mysteries and a profound respect for the actual celebrities he uses to frame and present the plot.
To be honest, due to a misprint in one of the volumes I located, I ended up missing one of the stories which preceded this tale, but nothing vital is missing from the gap. Even readers who missed the book in between Luck Be a Lady, Don’t Die and this one (I missed Hey There! (You With the Gun in Your Hand)) find out the parameters of the missing novel and nothing in the plot of this one hinges on that story. As usual in these Rat Pack mysteries, the story is bracketed by encounters in the modern era. The modern encounter has the aging Eddie G., pit boss from the Sands’ glory years, wax nostalgic about someone he helped as a result of Jack Entratter’s (“owner” of the Sands back in the early days before today’s right-wing political activist took over the company) tendency to be enamored with Frank and those in “The Summit.”
At least, Entratter’s hero worship of Frank and the gang explains how a pit boss can take as much time off to solve crimes without getting in trouble. In fact, Entratter handles a lot of the details in keeping Eddie and company out of jail, as well as flush enough with cash to be able to handle necessary travel, bribes, and meals. The books don’t gloss over Frank’s alleged ties to organized crime, but nor do they dwell on it. Let’s just say that connected people seem to do favors for Frank and for Eddie as a friend of Frank’s. Get the picture?
The “nobody” in You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Kills You is Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn seems to be having one of her paranoid episodes and Dino asks Eddie to find out if her fears are real or imaginary. It would be a spoiler to indicate which. Let’s just say that the author’s note at the conclusion of the book makes the probability starkly clear. And let’s also suggest here that Robert J. Randisi does a superb job of capturing the vulnerability of the film star clothed in an enchanting sensuality. But, just when you think his version of Marilyn might be devolving into a stereotype, he hits readers with an unexpected jolt—a welcome, intriguing surprise that pleased me to no end.
I also enjoyed the fact that this particular story offered more prose sketches of old Los Angeles and Palm Springs than Las Vegas. It has a great little side plot of Frank Sinatra preparing for a visit by JFK that never occurred and a marvelous cameo of Clark Gable’s widow that was very moving. It even featured a nice role for Fred Otash, the so-called “private eye to the stars” who Peter Lawford hired in real life to investigate the death of Marilyn Monroe. But the real extra strand of DNA in this story is that Eddie is not only trying to help Marilyn Monroe as a favor to Dino, but he is trying to find out why his PI buddy, Danny Bardini, is missing. There was something for everyone in this “episode” of this delightful and nostalgic series.
I may still be a “Clyde” with regard to folks like the rat pack, but I feel like I’m a “pally” when I’m reading one of these stories.
To be honest, due to a misprint in one of the volumes I located, I ended up missing one of the stories which preceded this tale, but nothing vital is missing from the gap. Even readers who missed the book in between Luck Be a Lady, Don’t Die and this one (I missed Hey There! (You With the Gun in Your Hand)) find out the parameters of the missing novel and nothing in the plot of this one hinges on that story. As usual in these Rat Pack mysteries, the story is bracketed by encounters in the modern era. The modern encounter has the aging Eddie G., pit boss from the Sands’ glory years, wax nostalgic about someone he helped as a result of Jack Entratter’s (“owner” of the Sands back in the early days before today’s right-wing political activist took over the company) tendency to be enamored with Frank and those in “The Summit.”
At least, Entratter’s hero worship of Frank and the gang explains how a pit boss can take as much time off to solve crimes without getting in trouble. In fact, Entratter handles a lot of the details in keeping Eddie and company out of jail, as well as flush enough with cash to be able to handle necessary travel, bribes, and meals. The books don’t gloss over Frank’s alleged ties to organized crime, but nor do they dwell on it. Let’s just say that connected people seem to do favors for Frank and for Eddie as a friend of Frank’s. Get the picture?
The “nobody” in You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Kills You is Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn seems to be having one of her paranoid episodes and Dino asks Eddie to find out if her fears are real or imaginary. It would be a spoiler to indicate which. Let’s just say that the author’s note at the conclusion of the book makes the probability starkly clear. And let’s also suggest here that Robert J. Randisi does a superb job of capturing the vulnerability of the film star clothed in an enchanting sensuality. But, just when you think his version of Marilyn might be devolving into a stereotype, he hits readers with an unexpected jolt—a welcome, intriguing surprise that pleased me to no end.
I also enjoyed the fact that this particular story offered more prose sketches of old Los Angeles and Palm Springs than Las Vegas. It has a great little side plot of Frank Sinatra preparing for a visit by JFK that never occurred and a marvelous cameo of Clark Gable’s widow that was very moving. It even featured a nice role for Fred Otash, the so-called “private eye to the stars” who Peter Lawford hired in real life to investigate the death of Marilyn Monroe. But the real extra strand of DNA in this story is that Eddie is not only trying to help Marilyn Monroe as a favor to Dino, but he is trying to find out why his PI buddy, Danny Bardini, is missing. There was something for everyone in this “episode” of this delightful and nostalgic series.
I may still be a “Clyde” with regard to folks like the rat pack, but I feel like I’m a “pally” when I’m reading one of these stories.
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March 2, 2010The fourth in this series feature the Rat Pack,this time they are asking their friend Eddie G to help out Marilyn Manroe who thinks she's being followed. They mostly just do it to help her nerves, until it turns out that just becuase she's paranoid doesn't mean that she isn't indeed being followed.
July 14, 2024
The fourth installment in the Rat Pack mysteries allows Sands pit boss Eddie Gianelli to branch out. Instead of helping a member of the Rat Pack, this time he offers his services to an associate of the Pack, Marilyn Monroe. She fears she's being followed and Eddie agrees to look into it. This time Eddie G must go back to his childhood home in Brooklyn and back to Vegas to help Marilyn while searching for a missing friend. With the help of his bodyguard/tough guy Jerry, he looks into the threat to the star. Learning about Eddie's past takes this story in an interesting new direction. Still, it is in the recreation of mid-century Vegas that is this series' biggest appeal; it is here in great detail. An entertaining addition to a fun series.
October 5, 2023
Once again Eddie G. finds himself helping one of Dean Martin's famous friends with a problem. This time it is Marilyn Monroe and she believes someone is stalking her. This book is different from the others in this series because he never actually figures out if someone is stalking her or not. Instead he spends the book trying to find his friend Danny who he had keeping an eye on Marilyn and has now gone missing. Throw in the FBI, Frank Sinatra and the Kennedys and you have a very entertaining and well written story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2023
January 1962
Las Vegas...
Pit Boss Eddie G is back, this time doing a favor for Dean Martin. Seems that a friend of Dean's has a problem...
Eddie G agrees, and finds out the friend in need is Marilyn Monroe.
Eddie recruits two of his friends to help out, and soon realizes the stakes are higher than he thought.
I love the characters in this series. I also enjoy the cameos that pop up.
This is a good mystery, though the wrap up left me a little blah.. but I still loved the story.
Las Vegas...
Pit Boss Eddie G is back, this time doing a favor for Dean Martin. Seems that a friend of Dean's has a problem...
Eddie G agrees, and finds out the friend in need is Marilyn Monroe.
Eddie recruits two of his friends to help out, and soon realizes the stakes are higher than he thought.
I love the characters in this series. I also enjoy the cameos that pop up.
This is a good mystery, though the wrap up left me a little blah.. but I still loved the story.
August 24, 2017
It's okay, but I'm probably out on this series now.
July 10, 2020
This is the Fourth book in the series. Eddie G is called upon when Marilyn Monroe needs someone to help her out of a jam.
May 4, 2025
This Book is so so good - I love love this book. I want to read the rest of the Books in this Series.
I give this book 5/5 Stars.
I give this book 5/5 Stars.
November 12, 2009
Author Robert J. Randisi starts all each Rat Pack Mystery the same and the fourth novel in the series is no exception. Long-retired Las Vegas pit boss, Eddie Gianelli, known around the Strip as Eddie G. is called upon to remember the Vegas heydays and his friendship with the boys---Frank, Dean, Sammy, Joey, and Peter.
In You're Nobody Until Somebody Kills You, the time is 2003 and Eddie is pursued by a filmmaker who wants to learn some new info---anything--- on one of the Lady Rat Packers---those bombshells who played with the boys. In particular, the young filmmaker is researching the well-documented life of Marilyn Monroe. Eddie remembers his encounter with Marilyn well; a story no one else knows.
Flashback to January 1962. Dean Martin asks Eddie to help Marilyn and her fears of being followed. Eddie is smitten with the sexy blonde and is alarmed at exactly how emotionally and psychologically fragile Marilyn is. Eddie agrees to help. After all, his pallys have asked another favor of him. However, before Eddie gets a chance to do much, his estranged mother dies back in Brooklyn. Eddie asks his PI buddy Danny Bardini to take over the case while he goes back east to attend his mother's funeral.
Mrs. Gianelli isn't in the ground very long when Danny, who has followed Marilyn back to Hollywood, turns up missing. In an attempt to unravel who's following Marilyn and what happened to Bardini, Eddie calls on tough guy, Jerry Epstein. Readers will remember Jerry from the other RP mysteries as the tough guy. After they arrive in LA, Eddie and Jerry soon learn that Marilyn's does have something to fear. They stash Marilyn in Palm Springs with Frank Sinatra and the hunt begins.
The RP mysteries are a lot of fun, and You're Nobody Until Somebody Kills You ranks right up there. I would have like to have seen more with the boys, but Randisi knows he has to work beyond the boys to keep the series going.
Review originally appeared on www.armchairinterviews.com
In You're Nobody Until Somebody Kills You, the time is 2003 and Eddie is pursued by a filmmaker who wants to learn some new info---anything--- on one of the Lady Rat Packers---those bombshells who played with the boys. In particular, the young filmmaker is researching the well-documented life of Marilyn Monroe. Eddie remembers his encounter with Marilyn well; a story no one else knows.
Flashback to January 1962. Dean Martin asks Eddie to help Marilyn and her fears of being followed. Eddie is smitten with the sexy blonde and is alarmed at exactly how emotionally and psychologically fragile Marilyn is. Eddie agrees to help. After all, his pallys have asked another favor of him. However, before Eddie gets a chance to do much, his estranged mother dies back in Brooklyn. Eddie asks his PI buddy Danny Bardini to take over the case while he goes back east to attend his mother's funeral.
Mrs. Gianelli isn't in the ground very long when Danny, who has followed Marilyn back to Hollywood, turns up missing. In an attempt to unravel who's following Marilyn and what happened to Bardini, Eddie calls on tough guy, Jerry Epstein. Readers will remember Jerry from the other RP mysteries as the tough guy. After they arrive in LA, Eddie and Jerry soon learn that Marilyn's does have something to fear. They stash Marilyn in Palm Springs with Frank Sinatra and the hunt begins.
The RP mysteries are a lot of fun, and You're Nobody Until Somebody Kills You ranks right up there. I would have like to have seen more with the boys, but Randisi knows he has to work beyond the boys to keep the series going.
Review originally appeared on www.armchairinterviews.com
February 13, 2017
Another great book in Robert J. Randisi's "Rat Pack" series. This time, it's not really a Rat Pack member who needs help from Eddie G., pit boss at the Sands Casino and friend of the Rat Pack, but an extended member--Marilyn Monroe.
Still smarting from being blamed for Clark Gable's death after the filming of The Misfits, Marilyn thinks she's being followed. Eddie's on the job, but must take a break when he receives word that his mother has died. He flies back home to Brooklyn for the first time in fourteen years, with his buddy P.I. Danny Bandini looking after Marilyn while he's gone. When Eddie hears that Danny has gone missing, he returns to Vegas with Jerry, the Brooklyn tough guy, and the two investigate Marilyn's concerns more seriously.
With stops at both Marilyn's home and Frank Sinatra's home in Palm Springs, where Frank is preparing to receive JFK, this is another thrilling, fun filled ride through the glittering world of the Rat Pack.
Still smarting from being blamed for Clark Gable's death after the filming of The Misfits, Marilyn thinks she's being followed. Eddie's on the job, but must take a break when he receives word that his mother has died. He flies back home to Brooklyn for the first time in fourteen years, with his buddy P.I. Danny Bandini looking after Marilyn while he's gone. When Eddie hears that Danny has gone missing, he returns to Vegas with Jerry, the Brooklyn tough guy, and the two investigate Marilyn's concerns more seriously.
With stops at both Marilyn's home and Frank Sinatra's home in Palm Springs, where Frank is preparing to receive JFK, this is another thrilling, fun filled ride through the glittering world of the Rat Pack.
August 28, 2010
The fourth Rat pack mystery, this entry has Eddie G helping out Marilyn Monroe, who is depicted as a sad, lost soul, everyone's kid sister who doesn't even know the power of her sexuality. Someone is following her, and Eddie G finds out that it's not the typical crazed fan, but an organized effort that goes very high up in official circles.
This is perhaps the sloppiest book in the series, both in terms of writing and plot (which is very thin indeed). Randisi seems to forget minor items, such as the fact that a description has already been given out, with the space of a few pages; he sets up characters as more interesting and nuanced than they turn out to be; the bad guys act like old serial villains, careful not to kill the main characters; and the deus ex machina ending is hardly satisfying. The other books at least had action and suspense to make up for their slipshod prose.
This is perhaps the sloppiest book in the series, both in terms of writing and plot (which is very thin indeed). Randisi seems to forget minor items, such as the fact that a description has already been given out, with the space of a few pages; he sets up characters as more interesting and nuanced than they turn out to be; the bad guys act like old serial villains, careful not to kill the main characters; and the deus ex machina ending is hardly satisfying. The other books at least had action and suspense to make up for their slipshod prose.
September 15, 2014
Casino pit boss Eddie G. is asked by Dean Martin to do a favor for a friend. Marilyn Monroe, who just completed filming "The Misfits," is convinced she is being followed. Eddie asks Danny Bardini, a private investigator, to keep an eye on Marilyn while he returns to Brooklyn to attend his mother's funeral, but Danny goes missing. Is Marilyn really being followed, or is she just hysterical?
Appearance by other Rat Pack members and the 1960s Las Vegas atmosphere create an entertaining and nostalgic mystery.
Appearance by other Rat Pack members and the 1960s Las Vegas atmosphere create an entertaining and nostalgic mystery.
March 25, 2010
The appearances by Marilyn Monroe and the Rat Pack make this story feel downright fanfic-ish at times, but I really enjoyed this read (up until the very end). Eddie G. reminds me quite a bit of Robert B. Parker's Spenser - although Eddie's not a private eye, as we're repeatedly told. Eddie, the other original characters, and their interaction, make this book much more than the plot. Quick, entertaining read. I'm looking forward to the other three books in this series.
August 22, 2014
I wish these books were easier to get my hands on. I've read #2 and now #4, and I love them. I enjoy anything with the Rat Pack. Randisi's writing is enjoyable - a lot of dialogue and some humor and he really brings the 60s to life. I liked the viewpoint of Marilyn too - it changed my view on her and shows how the industry can really affect some people. Now I have to track down some more of this series!
June 25, 2017
Very enjoyable series. Randisi, who is a very prolific author (written over 600 books) has a knack for creating interesting and likable characters and in this series, interweaving ficitonal (Eddie Gianelli and Jerry Epstein) with real personalities (Sinatra, Martin, etc) makes for some amazing story-telling. Well worth your time to read this series.
July 12, 2014
Old time Vegas with lots of stars and various problems that need the attention of the 'go to' man and his associates. This series brings in Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford with many A list stars from Hollywood and Vegas. Well written mysteries with humor and bits of Vegas lore.
April 21, 2015
This is the fourth book in the Rat Pack installment and my favorite guys Eddie G and Jerry are back on the scene helping out the Rat Pack and in this particular case Marilyn Monroe. Quick and fun read full of lots of historical detail.
February 22, 2010
Randisi's books are so easy to read. The stories are entertaining, his writing style is very simple and the chapters are super short. A definite "must read" series for Rat Pack fans.
November 10, 2010
Very interesting storyline regarding Marilyn Monroe in relation to the Rat Pack.
January 26, 2013
This is the fourth book in the Rat Pack Mystery series and the one thing I seriously disliked about this book, and all the others is...They just read to damn fast!
January 17, 2016
Excellent; Continuing characters: Eddie Gianelli and the Rat Pack; Dean Martin asks Eddie to help out Marilyn Monroe, and when he does he puts his friends in danger while getting to know Marilyn
March 15, 2014
Fast read
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews