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The lowly security guard jumps at the opportunity to fulfill his private eye fantasies and use everything he’s learned from Spenser, Magnum, and Mannix. But things don’t exactly go according to the books…or the reruns. As Harvey fumbles and stumbles through his first investigation, he discovers that the differences between fiction and reality can be deadly.
“Lee Goldberg bravely marches into territory already staked out by some fierce competition - Donald Westlake, Lawrence Block, the early Harlan Coben - and comes out virtually unscathed.” - The Chicago Tribune
Carl80
Posted August 30, 2011
This is the story of sad Harvey Mapes and how he tried to become Travis McGee, or the International Op, or even, Joe Mannix. If you want to know how well he succeeded, read the story. It's a very funny novel. It's a very good plot with some surprising twists I never saw coming. A couple of warnings may be in order. There is some really powerful and explicit brutality in this novel. There is some sex and some frank language. Finally, if you are a down and died-in-the-wool, living-it-to-the-end rabid crime fiction fan, you may want to skip this one, because Goldberg manages to diss just about every film and TV detective from "The Great Train Robbery, (1903) to Sherlock Holmes, to Ephram Zimbalist Jr. and just about every detective novelist from Collins to Connelly and Crais.
The author also manages to head-slap the film and TV industries and not a few publishing efforts. That it all works in service to the story and sad Harvey Mapes is testament to the skill and artistry of the creator of "Watch Me Die. Lee Goldberg certainly has the demonstrated chops to be able to produce this risible, amusing and very diverting story. Just glance at his bibliography for a taste.
Sad Harvey Mapes is a gate guard for a gated community in the Los Angeles area. He reads a lot of crime fiction and dreams of one day becoming a Travis McGee or a Tom Sellack. He's single, lives in a depressing if exotically-named apartment and he spends a lot of time ogling women and dreaming about sex. Then he gets employed by a resident of the gated community to follow the man's wife and find out what she may be up to. It appears to be a classic if run-of-the-mill detective novel set up doesn't it? Guess again. Sad Harvey Mapes life is never again the same and readers may very well have to adjust their attitudes about the whole mystery and crime fiction millieu. I don't get the title of the e-book, but everything else about this novel is just first rate.
owl_eyes_47
Posted July 9, 2011
...you'll thoroughly enjoy all the sly references to neophyte private investigator Harvey Mape's heroes. A fictional private detective crashing into the cruel reality of being a private detective while drawing inspiration from his favorite fictional private detectives?
Even if the names Jim Rockford, Mannix or Spencer mean nothing to you, his investigation is filled with enough twists and surprises to keep you turning the page.
Anonymous
Posted July 23, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
The lowly security guard jumps at the opportunity to fulfill his private eye fantasies and use everything he’s learned from Spenser, Magnum, and Mannix. But ...