Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime

     For those few that actually read this blog, I'm sorry I haven't been as regular on here as I would like to be. It's sad, but I totally forget that I have one of these things, so it'll take a bit longer yet to get the handle on this whole I've-got-a-blog bit.

How can you Not love him? That smile . . .
Photo Courtesy of http://www.mankindunplugged.com/

     Anyways, what I want to talk about is this wonderful series that I found quite by accident: The Rat Pack mysteries by Robert J. Randisi. If you know me, and even if you don't you'll find out pretty damn quick, pardon my Italian (hmm, now I wonder why I said that instead of my French . . .), that I LOVE Dean Martin. Sure, I love Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and I think Joey Bishop is really funny, and Peter Lawford, well, he's not a favorite, but I don't think he's as horrible as everybody seems to think he was. Out of all of them though, Dean is my fella, and you can bet at a later date I will most definitely be doing a lot of reviews when it comes to Dean and almost everything he did.

     Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime is the first in the Rat Pack mysteries (none of the fellas really called themselves the Rat Pack. That was really just the name the 'papers liked to call them.), and the mystery wraps solely around who's sending some not oh-so-nice letters to Dean (if you didn't catch it, the title is a play on words to Dean's most popular song, Everybody Loves Somebody (Sometime).

     Here's the synopsis (supplied by Amazon):

I adore the cover.
Photo Courtesy of
http://www.openlibary.org/

Las Vegas, 1960.

     Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford are the Kings of Cool---the Rat Pack. Ocean's 11 is their first movie together and they have taken Sin City by storm--filming during the day and cavorting onstage at the Sands Casino at night. It's clear not everyone is charmed, however, when Dean begins receiving anonymous threatening letters. Eddie Gianelli, also called Eddie G., is a pit boss at the Sands.  After twelve years, he's got the whole town wired. But he's still surprised when Joey Bishop drops by his table and invites him to meet with Frank in the Rat Pack's private steam room. Frank asks Eddie to find out who's been sending the threats, as a favor to him and Dean. Eddie wants to politely decline, but caught between his boss, Jack Entratter's, not-so-subtle nudging and being utterly starstruck by Dino, he agrees to look into it. He gets help from his P.I. best friend and a Jewish torpedo from Brooklyn.  A few dead bodies and bruised ribs later, he remembers why he was reluctant. In a city of gamblers, Eddie has become the highest roller of all. The game is murder, and the stakes just may be his own life.

     The book is fast paced, delightlfully fun to read, and for a twist-and-twirl (Cockney for girl) like me who wishes with every breath in her body that she'd been around back in that time, a fantastic way to live those dreams (if only for a little while). The ending was a surprise, and it was most definitely a stretch, but a harmless one. The language, compared to today's, is mild. The F-bombs are tossed about a good bit, as are a few other letters in the alphabet, the loose way a "dame's" or a "broad's" front and rear bumpers (I'm sure you'll understand what I'm trying to say) are described are also tossed in there a good bit, but nothing to the point where it gets vulgar. 

     The most important thing that one has to remember if he or she is to remember while reading these books is that they are happening in the SIXTIES! They really did talk like that, and I guess another helpful thing to remember is that ALL men, well, you know . . .  Another wonderful thing about these books is that you actually learn a little bit of history about the good ol' Las Vegas, and how it all started. If I have any problem with the book is that Randisi mispells Dean's wife's name. Her name's not spelled J-E-A-N-N-I-E; it is pronunced that way, but it is spelled J-E-A-N-N-E.

    I highly recommend the series to anyone who loves the "Rat Pack". I really think if Dean, Frank, Sammy, Joey (maybe not Peter because Eddie G. doesn't really like him, and I have a feeling that's so because Randisi himself doesn't favor him) would enjoy them. I've only read the first two, this one and Lucky Be a Lady, Don't Die, which I'll do a review on in a couple of days. As I said, they're meant for pure enjoyment, and they're actually pretty darn funny. Another reason to like them is because Dean, Frank, Sammy, Joey, and Peter aren't the only names that you'll recognize either. So, just remember, they're not meant to be taken seriously. So do yourself a favor: Don't. Just kick back, relax, and enjoy.

                                                                                                        Arriverderci,

                                                                                                                             R.C.