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Interviews | June 19, 2009

All posts by Dave Jim Lynch Makes Landscape Art... Out of Text

If Carl Hiaasen set one of his novels on a residential stretch of boundary line between British Columbia and Washington, or if Richard Russo's characters had relatives in the Pacific Northwest, the result might be something like Jim Lynch's Border Songs. Continue »


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    Border Songs

    Jim Lynch

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The Last Embrace

by Denise Hamilton

The Last Embrace Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Los Angeles 1949. A city of big dreams and dark shadows...

Lily Kessler, a former stenographer and spy for the OSS, comes to Los Angeles to find her late fiancé's sister Kitty, an actress who is missing from her Hollywood boardinghouse. The next day, Kitty's body is found in a ravine below the Hollywood sign. Unimpressed by the local police, Lily investigates on her own. As she delves into Kitty's life, she encounters fiercely competitive starlets, gangsters, an eccentric special-effects genius, exotic denizens of Hollywood's nightclubs, and a homicide detective who might distract her from her quest for justice. But the landscape in L.A. can shift kaleidoscopically, and Lily begins to see how easily a young woman can lose her balance and fall prey to the alluring city's dangers....

With vibrant characters and unerring insight into the desires and dark impulses that can flare between men and women, The Last Embrace showcases Denise Hamilton at the height of her storytelling powers as she transports readers to a fascinating, transitional time in one of America's most beguiling cities.

Review:

"Lily Kessler, a former OSS officer, fearlessly treads Hollywood's meanest streets in search of her late fianc's actress sister, Kitty Hayden, who's gone missing while seeking juicy parts and wealthy lovers, in this evocative stand-alone set in 1949 from Hamilton (Prisoner of Memory and four other Eve Diamond thrillers). Soon after moving into Kitty's grungy boarding house, Lily learns Kitty's been murdered, like the famous 'Black Dahlia' not long before, and she puts all her skills — intuition, deduction, inference and logic — into unraveling the crime. Gang wars, police corruption, shady reporters and a passionate new love interest, Det. Stephen Pico, can't stop Lily. Despite some papier-mch minor characters and some celluloid motivations, this torrid, down-and-dirty expos of the postwar entertainment industry includes enough special effects to make all that glitter look — temporarily — like 24-carat gold. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"One great ride into classic L.A. noir. Smart, passionate, and filled with heart." — Robert Ferrigno

Review:

"Hamilton captures Los Angeles in a way that's comparable to the skills of Michael Connelly and Robert Crais."-- South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Review:

"So much freshness and sass...comparisons with Raymond Chandler aren't too far out of line." — Los Angeles Times Book Review

Review:

"Nobody can do multicultural Los Angeles better than Denise Hamilton."-- The Denver Post

Review:

"...an engaging heroine and a cast of quirky supporting characters who seem to have walked off the set of Sunset Boulevard."-- Booklist

Review:

"Her reputation for Chandleresque dialog and impeccable historical detail is strongly supported in this highly readable and entertaining story."-- Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN:
9780743296731
Author:
Hamilton, Denise
Publisher:
Scribner Book Company
Subject:
History
Subject:
United states
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths
Subject:
Motion picture industry
Subject:
Police
Subject:
Los angeles (calif.)
Subject:
Murder -- Investigation.
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
July 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
384
Dimensions:
9 x 6 in

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