What I did, Archer, is between me, myself, and I.” She looked wistful, which she almost never did. “But I hear TV is really taking off,” she said. “Maybe I should think about trying that.” Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive! ( Little, Brown and Company, 2005), Baldacci's debut novel for young readers He pulled up to the main gate at the studio and presented his driver’s license to the guard there, a beefy type who looked hot and bothered, although the temps were in the chilly fifties at this time of night. The man’s hair was thin and grizzled, his face was fat and wide, and his body matched the face and not the hair. He looked like he’d end up with a coronary if he actually had to hoof it after a gate runner. His holstered .45 slapped against his meaty thigh as he walked around the car, eyeing it like a pretty girl in a swimsuit contest. The book starts off slowly, and continues to build tension until the crazy end. The more Archer investigates, the more complicated the problem gets. Baldacci does a great job of snowballing Archer's situation, adding more and more nefarious villains as the book progresses. Most of the minor characters are your stereotypical bad guys, but I didn't mind, as it was still fun to read. The book shines a light on the darker side of Hollywood and fame during that time period, particularly the studio contracts that used to bind actors to studios and dictate pretty much their whole life, which I've read about in other books and was pretty awful to women.

Archer is definitely out of his element, and if a murderer or the mob doesn’t kill him first, Hollywood certainly will… It could be a wonderful place to live, if you had money, were famous, or both, which Archer didn’t and wasn’t. Over the years, he’d worked a slew of tough cases, and had come to know the town and its denizens maybe better than he would have liked. While practicing law, he turned to novel writing, taking three years to write Absolute Power. [4] Published in 1996, it was sold internationally. To date, Baldacci has published 46 novels for adults as well as seven novels for younger readers. Baldacci really focuses on Hollywood and Los Angeles, making the physical world a major character in this novel. He describes the setting and history constantly throughout, using interesting anecdotes that strongly sarcastic and satirical. But he gets it right most of the time, understanding that early 1950’s is far from today’s world, which is full of technology, tools, and devices. He describes that era’s scenery, dress styles, transportation vehicles, weapons, restaurants, food, prices, movies, actors, actresses – you name it. He certainly enables you to feel like are there and experiencing it with all of your senses. Baldacci adds in the proper political and social norms, and enough details from post-World War II to provide the depth and quality needed to portray the true historical context. For example, Baldacci uses the social and legal inequality between men and women in that time period to propel and strengthen his story. My only criticism on that is the same one that I had with the last book. Every flipping character smokes constantly. I understand that smoking was a widespread social custom, but seriously, not every single person was a chain driven smoker. It’s overkill.

It’s the eve of 1953, and Aloysius Archer, private investigator and World War II veteran, is in Los Angeles to ring in the New Year with his old friend, aspiring actress Liberty Callahan. NYE 1952. Archer travels to Hollywood to see in the new year with Liberty Callahan who is trying to hit the big time in the movies. Whilst having dinner with the big names in the business, they are approached by Elanor Lamb, a woman who believes she is being stalked and her life is in danger. Archer agrees to work for her. The next thing he knows, there is a dead man in Lambs house in Malibu and Lamb has disappeared.

He had begun to feel things for her that every man hoped to feel about a woman one day. But maybe those feelings had been there for a long time, only their weight had compressed him into silence. He was thinking of maybe one day soon breaking that silence. I call this the "Full Marlowe" as this is very much Raymond Chandler territory in an old familiar setting and Baldacci is able to completely capture that ambiance. He even (perhaps intentionally?) mimics Chandler's sometimes confusing plotlines. The only thing keeping this out of 5 star territory is that Baldacci's similes and metaphors don't quite hit the peaks of Chandler's noir poetry, but then who will ever be able to do that? When they got inside he watched as Callahan looked around at all the legendary stars partying there. Her manner at first became subdued, as though she was as overwhelmed by this as any out-oftowner would have been. But then her expression changed to one of sheer excitement to be in their company. Los Angeles had two million souls sprawled over nearly five hundred square miles. Some people were crammed into slums, tract housing, and shadily built tenement death traps, like staples in a stapler, while the wealthy and famous had room to both flex and hide. All this in a city founded on the remnants of a village settled by the Tongva, an indigenous Indian tribe, who called it Yaanga, which translated to “poison oak place.”

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Baldacci also knew that “wherever the money goes, crooks go.” And criminals often exploit famous people. Archer is immediately retained by Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter living in Malibu. He is thrust into the Hollywood scene, interacting with famous, wealthy, powerful, and, in some cases, nefarious people who have much to lose. The story takes off at a brisk pace as Archer ventures to his client’s home only to discover that she has vanished. He finds a dead body in the house and someone gets the jump on him as he is searching for details about the decedent’s identity and actions. Archer’s takes him behind the scenes of the Hollywood power elite, the dark sides of Los Angeles, and the glitzy world of Las Vegas, as he tries to piece together the connection between the dead body and Elanor’s disappearance. He finds himself going up against a dangerous mobster killer in Chinatown, power wielding movie producers and directors, untrusting and hard-edged county police investigators, and numerous suspects hiding secrets and relationships that hinder Archer from finding a killer and solving his case, as well as its impact on his personal relationship with Liberty.

This case will take Archer on a wild ride through the rich and famous, people who have the money and means to think they can et away with anything. But they do not know how determined this PI can be. It is dangerous work but he has been to war and prison so if anyone can handle it he can. Shapiro, Ari (27 July 2009). "A Conspiracy Around Every Corner In Baldacci's D.C." www.npr.org . Retrieved 28 May 2022. Anyone who's been to an airport bookstore in the last 10 years has seen Baldacci. Baldacci and his wife, Michelle, are the co-founders of the Wish You Well Foundation, [5] which works to combat illiteracy in the United States by funding adult illiteracy and education programs. [6] Baldacci became involved with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society after his sister, author Sharon Baldacci, was diagnosed with MS. [7]

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He’d met Callahan in Reno, where she was a dancer and hoofer at a dinner club. They’d traveled to Bay Town together and nearly gotten killed several times along the way. There was nothing like confronting death to cement a friendship. Baldacci was a consulting producer on King & Maxwell, a TNT television series based on his characters Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn starred. A few moments after their drinks came and they tapped glasses, a voice called out, “LC? Is that you? Is that really you?”

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are loyal, determined, and brave. And the plot is a well-paced, twisty whodunit full of red herrings, sleuthing, suspicious personalities, deduction, attraction, coercion, danger, mayhem, mischief, and murder. I’m really enjoying this series. Baldacci’s writing and character development is outstanding here and he offers up a few changes at the end here so we’re sure we’ll see more of Archer but with a fresh approach. You made it,” she said, as though he had braved mighty seas to reach her instead of driving eighty miles due south on smooth roads.I know I should appreciate what I have, but I worked my rear end off for it. And the story of the casting couch is no myth, let me tell you.” Edoardo Ballerini и Brittany Pressley, които успяват да придадат на всеки един от персонажите отделна индивидуалност, дарявайки ги със собствени отличителни гласове, историята оживява почти като филм. It’s the eve of 1953, and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to ring in the New Year with an old friend, aspiring actress Liberty Callahan, when their evening is interrupted by an acquaintance of Callahan’s: Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter in dire straits.