Heart Attack and Vine: A Crush Mystery

by Phoef Sutton

Overview

"As slick as a switchblade with a pearl handle."— Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author

Los Angeles bodyguard/bouncer Caleb Rush (Crush) is back in this second Crush novel. When Rachel Fury, a con-artist friend who'd vanished for a couple of years after a big scam, reappears in Hollywood under a new name as a glitzy movie star, she hires Crush as a bodyguard, and he quickly gets drawn into a criminal mess that requires all his brawn, skill, and savvy to negotiate. It's rich with Hollywood lore, New Orleans charm, snappy dialogue, fast-paced action, and noir atmosphere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938849688
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/08/2016
Series:	Crush Mysteries , #2
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	911,509
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Phoef Sutton is a New York Times–bestselling novelist, television writer, and playwright whose work has won two Emmys, a Peabody, a Writers Guild Award, a GLAAD Award, and a Television Academy Honors Award. The first novel in the Crush series, titled Crush, was a Kirkus Best Mystery of 2015 and a Los Angeles Times “Summer Reading Page-Turner.”

Sutton has been an executive producer of Cheers, a writer/producer for such shows as Boston Legal and NewsRadio, a writer for Terriers, and the creator of several TV shows, including the cult hit Thanks. He is also the co-author, with Janet Evanovich, of two New York Times. bestsellers. Curious Minds. and Wicked Charms. His other novels include the romantic thriller 15 Minutes to Live.. Sutton lives with his family in South Pasadena, California.

Editorial Reviews

09/12/2016
Set in Hollywood, Sutton’s terrific sequel to 2015’s Crush finds Caleb “Crush” Rush working as a bodyguard and courier for Rachel Fury, “part-time actress, full-time grifter,” in what turns out to be a con involving the letters of transit prop from Casablanca and an underworld figure. Three years later, Rachel reenters Crush’s life as Rachel Strayhorn, an up-and-coming star nominated for an Oscar. She needs protection from a stalker during a birthday party for her current mark, director Adam Udell. Out at the pool at Adam’s place, someone fires a shot, but is it at Adam or Rachel? Against his better judgment, Crush agrees to travel with Adam’s movie-making circus to New Orleans, and this time, the shots that ring out in the night find their mark. The violence and sex mixed with the ongoing multiple cons give this something of an R-rated Scooby-Doo feel, while the multiplicity of suspects and red herrings is straight out of Agatha Christie. Calm, steady Crush makes a wonderful lead. Agent: Allison Cohen, Gersh Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

From the New York Times–bestselling co-author of Curious Minds

A Kirkus "10 Best" Criminal Tale for 2016

"In my world any novel that alludes to a Tom Waits song with its title gets a closer look. When that reference also characterizes the sly tone, the slick characters, and the twisty plot, then I’m singing, too. Phoef Sutton’s Heart Attack and Vine hit all the right notes for me... every chapter was steeped in snark, wit and movie references. There’s magic in this book."
— Carole Barrowman, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

“This fast-moving, wiseass noir tale of murder and Hollywood features the return of bodyguard and bouncer Caleb Rush…. Fast, light, and witty, Sutton’s second novel is a pleasure.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Terrific… Crush makes a wonderful lead.”
— Publishers Weekly

“Like Kurt Vonnegut and T. Jefferson Parker teamed up to write a mystery.”
— W.L. Ripley, author of the Wyatt Storme mysteries

"Witty, cleverly plotted, dripping with Hollywood allusions...it is so much fun."
— Reviewing the Evidence

"Relentless in its action, as Crush travels all over trying to protect the woman he is bound to by duty and by his past. Heart Attack and Vine is sure to please readers who enjoy high-stakes thrillers filled with glitz, glamor, and unpredictable femmes fatales."
— Foreword Reviews

“Sly, knowing, and hilarious, Heart Attack and Vine is a perfect caper book set inside Hollywood's Dream Factory that just screams 'movie!.’ Studios, please option this immediately. With its nonstop action, snappy dialogue, and wisecracking characters, this send-up of Hollywood is a surefire winner.”
— Denise Hamilton, bestselling crime novelist and editor of the Edgar-winning short story anthology Los Angeles Noir

“Insanely fun and readable. Sutton writes like a great raconteur tells a story.”
— Hart Hanson, writer/creator of Bones

"Crush is back in town, and the Hollywood sign is in wicked, Technicolor flames. Phoef Sutton's rabid charmers break hearts and redden all carpets, and his pages fly by on winds of wit. This sly writing has Chandler cross-hairs and is pure, CGI-free magic."
— Richard Christian Matheson, Amazon #1 bestselling author of Dystopia and Hell Comes to Hollywood

From the Publisher

★ Sept. 8, 2016
This fast-moving, wiseass, noir tale of murder and Hollywood features the return of bodyguard and bouncer Caleb Rush (Crush, 2015).Crush (Caleb’s street name) has a simple task: his old friend Rachel Fury is paying him $500 to deliver an envelope and pick up a suitcase. The envelope is supposed to contain letters of transit from the movie Casablanca, for a collector of movie memorabilia. The suitcase is supposed to be full of cash, but both parties cheat each other. For her part, Rachel is “a part-time artist, part-time actress, and full-time grifter.” “It’s all a movie, Crush. And I’m the lead…conning rich bad guys and winning the heart of the Hunky Good-hearted Bodyguard Action Hero,” a perfect description of Crush. Like many of the characters, she’s manic and funny. Several years later, Crush happens upon an Oscar-nominated actress named Rachel Strayhorn passed out in a Porsche in the parking lot of a nightclub, dress hiked up and panty-free, being photographed by a bunch of guys with cellphones. Crush recognizes his friend Fury: “It’s a long con,” she tells him when he pulls her out of the car. “A very long con.” She even has her “very own stalker.” Crush, on the other hand, is a quiet tough guy who doesn’t use guns. “Your guns are you,” Rachel says. Her father, Lloyd, calls Crush “half Cossack and half Roman centurion.” Still, she says Crush will never make it as a grifter, because he’s too soft. Indeed, he hasn’t pulled a con in 10 years. They meet up with “film director and professional bad boy” Adam Udell, who makes action movies and has built a gleaming white pyramid in a cemetery as his “tomb-in-waiting.” People die, and Crush jumps bail after a bogus murder charge, but those are details in a tight plot that culminates in Oscar Night, where Rachel and Adam are both up for awards. Fast, light, and witty, Sutton’s second novel is a pleasure.

Kirkus Review