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Tony Rome #1
MIAMI MAYHEM
Filmed as "Tony Rome" in 1967. Then released as "Tony Rome"(1967) by the author based on the film script. It seemed a routine little job.... Just return a high-flying heiress to her worried papa. But some of a man's worst messes start out as routine little jobs. This one really hits the pedal, with a body on the floor of Tony's office, the head smashed by a bullet. The bait to catch the filler: a daisy-shaped, gold-and-diamond pin that couldn't bring enough to be worth anybody's trouble. Or worth murdering for...
Author's full name: Marvin H. Albert
Author's full name: Marvin H. Albert
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
50 people want to read
About the author
Marvin H. Albert
123 books20 followersAlso wrote under the names Mike Barone, Albert Conroy, Ian MacAlister, Nick Quarry, Anthony Rome, Al Conroy, Marvin Albert
"Marvin H. Albert, the author of more than 100 westerns, mysteries, spy novels and works of history, died on March 24 in Menton, in the south of France. He was 73 and lived in Mont Segur-sur-Lauzon.
The cause was a heart attack, said his daughter, Jan.
Mr. Albert was born in Philadelphia and served as a radio officer in the Merchant Marine during World War II. After working as the director of a children's theater troupe in Philadelphia, he moved to New York in 1950 and began writing and editing for the magazines Quick and Look. He turned to writing full time after the success of his novel "The Law and Jake Wade" (1956).
In addition to popular westerns, mysteries and novelizations of Hollywood films, he wrote "The Long White Road," a biography of the Arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, "Broadsides and Boarders," a history of great sea captains, and "The Divorce," about Henry VIII. He wrote novels under his own name and under the pseudonyms Albert Conroy, Al Conroy, Nick Quarry, Anthony Rome, Ian MacAlister and J. D. Christilian."
By WILLIAM GRIMES
"Marvin H. Albert, the author of more than 100 westerns, mysteries, spy novels and works of history, died on March 24 in Menton, in the south of France. He was 73 and lived in Mont Segur-sur-Lauzon.
The cause was a heart attack, said his daughter, Jan.
Mr. Albert was born in Philadelphia and served as a radio officer in the Merchant Marine during World War II. After working as the director of a children's theater troupe in Philadelphia, he moved to New York in 1950 and began writing and editing for the magazines Quick and Look. He turned to writing full time after the success of his novel "The Law and Jake Wade" (1956).
In addition to popular westerns, mysteries and novelizations of Hollywood films, he wrote "The Long White Road," a biography of the Arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, "Broadsides and Boarders," a history of great sea captains, and "The Divorce," about Henry VIII. He wrote novels under his own name and under the pseudonyms Albert Conroy, Al Conroy, Nick Quarry, Anthony Rome, Ian MacAlister and J. D. Christilian."
By WILLIAM GRIMES
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 17, 2012
It seemed like a simple job. Miami P.I. Tony Rome's ex-partner, Ralph Turpin, needed some help. The cheap motel he worked for as a sort of house dick had a drunk woman passed out in one of their rooms. A rich man's daughter, the word was out that she was missing and they didn't want the bad publicity. Rome was offered $200.oo if their name was kept out of it.
Rudolph Kosterman was the self-made rich man that was the girl's father. He returned the girl and refused questions other than that she was fine, nothing had happened, and the motel wanted no trouble.
Late the next day he was visited by the daughter who wanted her diamond encrusted gold daisy pin returned. When Rome convinced her, he didn't take it, by insisting she should go to the police, she wanted to hire him to find it. A present from her father, it had a sentimental attachment and she didn't want her father to know anything about it.
In short order, he's waylaid at his office by two men, taped to a deck chair on his boat, the STRAIGHT PASS, and chloroformed, to awaken to a boat obviously searched. His car and office as well. Something small as the phones were screwed apart.
Since he had nothing else going for the moment, it had to be the daisy pin. A little investigation with the insurance company showed it was worth a few grand. Not enough to be worth all the trouble someone was going to.
Then old Kosterman hires him to find out what's bothering his daughter. Everything must be kept in-house. No cops.
Things start to go sideways when he arrives early in the morning to his office only to find his ex-partner dead on the floor with a bullet through his forehead and his .45 lying on the floor beside him, one shot fired. Blood pools away from him and going out the door told Rome that one shot hit someone. And bad.
I've always like Albert's westerns, but this is the first of his Rome P.I. series I'd ever read. I have one of the other two and have my eye out for the third.
Recommended.
Rudolph Kosterman was the self-made rich man that was the girl's father. He returned the girl and refused questions other than that she was fine, nothing had happened, and the motel wanted no trouble.
Late the next day he was visited by the daughter who wanted her diamond encrusted gold daisy pin returned. When Rome convinced her, he didn't take it, by insisting she should go to the police, she wanted to hire him to find it. A present from her father, it had a sentimental attachment and she didn't want her father to know anything about it.
In short order, he's waylaid at his office by two men, taped to a deck chair on his boat, the STRAIGHT PASS, and chloroformed, to awaken to a boat obviously searched. His car and office as well. Something small as the phones were screwed apart.
Since he had nothing else going for the moment, it had to be the daisy pin. A little investigation with the insurance company showed it was worth a few grand. Not enough to be worth all the trouble someone was going to.
Then old Kosterman hires him to find out what's bothering his daughter. Everything must be kept in-house. No cops.
Things start to go sideways when he arrives early in the morning to his office only to find his ex-partner dead on the floor with a bullet through his forehead and his .45 lying on the floor beside him, one shot fired. Blood pools away from him and going out the door told Rome that one shot hit someone. And bad.
I've always like Albert's westerns, but this is the first of his Rome P.I. series I'd ever read. I have one of the other two and have my eye out for the third.
Recommended.
September 25, 2017
A well-plotted private eye tale that makes great use of its Miami setting. Detective Tony Rome’s called on by an ex-partner to drive a blacked-out heiress home from a seedy hotel. Soon he’s on the trail of a missing diamond pin, his ex-partner’s dead and things are really complicated. This is the basis for a Frank Sinatra film produced in the wake of Paul Newman’s Harper, but it stands well on its own as a stylish mid-century detective novel in the Chandler and MacDonald mold.
March 8, 2017
The movie script for Tony Rome (1967) stays pretty close to the original novel Miami Mayhem. It's a fun detective novel filled with lots of quirky and nefarious characters.
October 14, 2025
Frank Sinatra je bio u opticaju da zaigra Archera, odnosno Harpera u ekranizacijama koje je kasnije radio Paul Newman.
To je nadoknadio snimivši dve ekranizacije znatno manje uglednog pisca Marvina Alberta, koji je bio i prozaista i scenarista, u svakom slučaju jedan veoma plodan autor koji je znao da svaki dinar mora da se zaradi.
Albertovi romani iz seriala o detektivu Anthony Romeu su danas praktično zaboravljeni, pa je naravno i svako poređenje sa Ross Macdonaldom deplasirano jer je on pak slavljen kao klasik.
Kad je o filmovima reč, meni je Rosebnergov DROWNING POOL neuporedivo bio zanimljiviji od Neameovog HARPERa, koji je takođe dobar ali nije odoleo zubu vremena. No, Newman jeste igrajući Archera/ Harpera izgradio lik privatnog detektiva koji je postao dovoljno značajan u njegovoj karijeri da ga zaključi u filmu Roberta Bentona TWILIGHT, na način koji je mogao biti slavniji - što se mene tiče.
Sinatrin Tony Rome, s druge strane, nije bio tako slavljen ni kad je izašao, niti je Albert tako značajan pisac ali Sinatra jeste posle toga igrao detektiva još nekoliko puta, sa različitim uspehom, uključujući Harry Callaghana kog je zamalo odigrao, kao i danas kultnu ekranizaciju Rodericka Thorpa.
Sam Tony Rome je dobio dva filma, TONY ROME i LADY IN CEMENT, a u opticaju je bilo da se serijal nastavi, međutim, nije. Postoji još jedan roman a pričalo se i o crossover eventu gde bi Sinatrin Tony Rome i Martinov Matt Helm zajedno išli u avanturu.
U svakom slučaju, u Sinatrinom kanonu ovi filmovi nisu dovoljno istankuti i nepravedno su potcenjeni. On jeste uneo jednu lakoću i šarm u private dick žanr i napravio je nešto što sam voleo da nazovem bubblegum noirom, ali uprkos Sinatrinoj lakoći izlaganja lika i režiji Gordona Douglasa koja donosi optimalan tempo i dinamiku, ovi filmovi su bili vrlo sveži, inovativni pa i provokativni u prikazu određenih tabua.
Sada sam pročitao MIAMI MAYHEM Marvina Alberta iz kog je nastao film TONY ROME i danas se ta knjiga može naći i pod naslovom filma.
Reč je o izvanredno skrojenom detektivskom krimiću koji donosi uzbudljivu misteriju, junaka koji je oslonjen na ono što su izgradili uzori žanra i ne izmišlja ništa novo ali je jako dobra interpretacija zaostavštine žanra.
Albertov roman je dinamičan, inventivan, sa dosta napetosti, zamršenim zapletom koji je chandlerovski ali zapravo na kraju prilično logičan ako imamo u vidu neophodnu dozu neočekivanosti, sa pričom koja se prati i preokretima koji ne obezvređuju sve ono što smo investirali u likove.
Očekivao sam tipičan cash grab ili nuđenje IPa studijima, a dobio sam roman koji svakako vapi da bude ekranizovan i ne beži od toga, ali svakako jeste ipak književnost i nije hendikepirani film, odnosno dramsko delo.
MIAMI MAYHEM nije roman koji je na bilo koji način pomerio žanr i nije to sad neka presudna etapa za razvoj bilo čega. Ko ga nije čitao u tom smislu nije mnogo propustio. Ali, ko jeste dobio je jedan jako ozbiljno izveden žanrovski zadatak.
Marvin Albert je u nekim pulp varijantama izdavan i u SFRJ ali čini mi se da on ni u SAD nije baš završio u mnogo antologija i pažljivih izdanja..
To je nadoknadio snimivši dve ekranizacije znatno manje uglednog pisca Marvina Alberta, koji je bio i prozaista i scenarista, u svakom slučaju jedan veoma plodan autor koji je znao da svaki dinar mora da se zaradi.
Albertovi romani iz seriala o detektivu Anthony Romeu su danas praktično zaboravljeni, pa je naravno i svako poređenje sa Ross Macdonaldom deplasirano jer je on pak slavljen kao klasik.
Kad je o filmovima reč, meni je Rosebnergov DROWNING POOL neuporedivo bio zanimljiviji od Neameovog HARPERa, koji je takođe dobar ali nije odoleo zubu vremena. No, Newman jeste igrajući Archera/ Harpera izgradio lik privatnog detektiva koji je postao dovoljno značajan u njegovoj karijeri da ga zaključi u filmu Roberta Bentona TWILIGHT, na način koji je mogao biti slavniji - što se mene tiče.
Sinatrin Tony Rome, s druge strane, nije bio tako slavljen ni kad je izašao, niti je Albert tako značajan pisac ali Sinatra jeste posle toga igrao detektiva još nekoliko puta, sa različitim uspehom, uključujući Harry Callaghana kog je zamalo odigrao, kao i danas kultnu ekranizaciju Rodericka Thorpa.
Sam Tony Rome je dobio dva filma, TONY ROME i LADY IN CEMENT, a u opticaju je bilo da se serijal nastavi, međutim, nije. Postoji još jedan roman a pričalo se i o crossover eventu gde bi Sinatrin Tony Rome i Martinov Matt Helm zajedno išli u avanturu.
U svakom slučaju, u Sinatrinom kanonu ovi filmovi nisu dovoljno istankuti i nepravedno su potcenjeni. On jeste uneo jednu lakoću i šarm u private dick žanr i napravio je nešto što sam voleo da nazovem bubblegum noirom, ali uprkos Sinatrinoj lakoći izlaganja lika i režiji Gordona Douglasa koja donosi optimalan tempo i dinamiku, ovi filmovi su bili vrlo sveži, inovativni pa i provokativni u prikazu određenih tabua.
Sada sam pročitao MIAMI MAYHEM Marvina Alberta iz kog je nastao film TONY ROME i danas se ta knjiga može naći i pod naslovom filma.
Reč je o izvanredno skrojenom detektivskom krimiću koji donosi uzbudljivu misteriju, junaka koji je oslonjen na ono što su izgradili uzori žanra i ne izmišlja ništa novo ali je jako dobra interpretacija zaostavštine žanra.
Albertov roman je dinamičan, inventivan, sa dosta napetosti, zamršenim zapletom koji je chandlerovski ali zapravo na kraju prilično logičan ako imamo u vidu neophodnu dozu neočekivanosti, sa pričom koja se prati i preokretima koji ne obezvređuju sve ono što smo investirali u likove.
Očekivao sam tipičan cash grab ili nuđenje IPa studijima, a dobio sam roman koji svakako vapi da bude ekranizovan i ne beži od toga, ali svakako jeste ipak književnost i nije hendikepirani film, odnosno dramsko delo.
MIAMI MAYHEM nije roman koji je na bilo koji način pomerio žanr i nije to sad neka presudna etapa za razvoj bilo čega. Ko ga nije čitao u tom smislu nije mnogo propustio. Ali, ko jeste dobio je jedan jako ozbiljno izveden žanrovski zadatak.
Marvin Albert je u nekim pulp varijantama izdavan i u SFRJ ali čini mi se da on ni u SAD nije baš završio u mnogo antologija i pažljivih izdanja..
February 13, 2026
A good piece of hickory by his side, Preacher rode into LaHood, California on a pale horse to become the highest grossing and Clint Eastwood's only Western of the 1980s. In a segue to the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, PALE RIDER was advertised with the slogan on the poster that '...Hell followed with him.' Instead of a primo wood pseudo baseball bat and a Roman collar, gumshoe Anthony Rome has a .38 and a bad attitude. And at the best of times, Rome feels like Typhoid Mary; wherever he goes, whatever he does, he carries death with him. He touches people's lives and they die. And the worst of it is that he knows that there's no end to it. It's Sunshine state high-life mixed with Dade County lowlifes, a lit powderkeg, whose explosion will surely rock Vice City. It's money, sex, blackmail, murder, with fast women, hard cops, sneak players and hot jewels. It's MIAMI MAYHEM.
Even for a hard-living and hard-loving private detective with plenty of hot women hangers-on, the hazards of living in southern Florida, taking advantage of great weather by spacing out, cruising the boat and going fishing, are almost irresistible. Anthony 'Tony' Rome, no relations to Tony-two-times, however prefers the straight pass to all of that, as he is a man of horses, dogs, dice, cards, the Havana roulette wheel and nickel and dime poker. Not quite a degenerate gambling junkie, Rome won't pass up the Indy 500 or a lovely lady that gets lost on the pier by his houseboat. Chain smoking Korea vet and ex-cop, Rome is a shady shamus in a dirty business, and he's right at home in Miami's unsavory pocket of cut-rate gin mills and strip joints. There's just one problem, his former private dick partner on the floor of his detective agency floor plus a good sized hole in his cranium. Rome's in deep, deeper than deep. It's trouble, the worst kind of trouble. In fact, it's double the worst kind of trouble he's ever had and it's a case with not much coincidence involved.
Focusing on the gem-smuggling center of the 1960s, MIAMI MAYHEM shines a light on a racket of profit without peril, stating loud and proud that unethical is a business term for slimy, money's always a strong reason for murder and that every man is a louse in one way or another. Somewhere between MIAMI BLUES and POLICE ACADEMY 5 with a healthy dose of Raymond Chandler and John D. MacDonald, MIAMI MAYHEM is a solid noir read in delicious humid art deco shark bait flavor. Offering a snappy and hilarious negotiation that reeks of 50s cool and halfway successfully emulated in the original THE NAKED GUN movie's harbor scene, MIAMI MAYHEM is an art deco hashish dream of an Arabian Nights' paradise, in the canyon of Miami Beach's many hotels. Although expending a lot of unnecessary real estate on nature and furniture descriptions, MIAMI MAYHEM is a book with more cops climbing over it than you'd find at a policeman's convention. Just the right shade of noir, MIAMI MAYHEM offers assassins, shady doctors, dirty diamonds, and painted girls. Sharing the same decade and locale as Tony Roma's, MIAMI MAYHEM is chef's kiss noir extraordinaire, a delight for pulp crime aficionados and prime cut entertainment. No sauce required.
May 19, 2013
This is the first book about Miami Private Eye Anthony "Tony" Rome, and it's a blast. It was also published under the title Tony Rome, and has also been published under both titles as by author "Anthony Rome". Albert actually bested this one with his second Tony Rome novel The Lady In Cement, but this is great also. Again, it's best I direct you to Randy Johnson's synopsis, because I couldn't say it better:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Check it out.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Check it out.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews