Max Wisecracks Hollywood: Foxtrotting for Justice

by Hickey Frank

Overview

I, Max Royster, cannot run fifty yards or see my own feet under a beer belly. Pushing 64-years old, I struggle to rebuild, after the New York cops fired me for depression and hijacked my pension. Like everything else sliding around loose, I wind up in Hollywood, California.

By chance, I see a female Black LAPD cop grapple with a homeless woman, an ex-Blaxploitation film actress who 40-years ago turned Civil Rights radical.

The homeless woman dies.

Sidewalk Angelenos heave rocks and bottles in protest.

Los Angeles screams. Cops retreat and haul me to the station.

An ambitious Deputy District Attorney and the hard-charging FBI play tug-of-war-witness [?] over my fast-aging body. Everyone wants to jail me as a material witness for trial.

To stay clear, I go underground with a cryptic Hollywood beauty and learn much on the floor of her apartment. The media turns up the heat. The G-men freeze my cash.

All that I have left are my wits and the cash in my bluejeans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780997071924
Publisher:	Frank Hickey
Publication date:	12/11/2016
Series:	Max Royster Mystery Series , #7
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.56(d)

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1. 1
Breezing or What's that? 1
CHAPTER 2. 7
Deciding, Then Sliding or Mob Rule 7
CHAPTER 3. 11
Real Life or The Rule Book Dies 11
CHAPTER 4. 14
Balance or Nothing Simple 14
CHAPTER 5. 21
Shake-Up or What's your Dee-Eye-Cee Gotta Do With Me? 21
CHAPTER 6. 26
Double-Talk or Think That One Over 26
CHAPTER 7. 30
Messing Up the Mess or The Hair Ball Rolls 30
CHAPTER 8. 36
Talking It Up or Lady Jane Speaks 36
CHAPTER 9. 39
Promise? or Legally Speaking 39
CHAPTER 10. 45
Me Being Me or Acting Out 45
CHAPTER 11. 51
LAPD's Story or Tell Me Why 51
CHAPTER 12. 55
Dispute or He Said / She Said History 55
CHAPTER 13. 60
Po-Po Logic or I Know What I Mean. 60
CHAPTER 14. 65
Changes or A Woman Named Yan 65
CHAPTER 15. 76
Woman Talk or More of Yan 76
CHAPTER 16. 79
Like The Song Says, "Where Do We Go From Here?" or Love in LA 79
CHAPTER 17. 83
Homie Cronies or Plain Talk 83
CHAPTER 18. 85
Digging for Apples or Picture This 85
CHAPTER 19. 89
Night Sweats or Despair Is the Only Answer 89
CHAPTER 20. 93
This Won't "Woik" or Ain't You Technically My Baby? 93
CHAPTER 21. 98
The Craft, The Secret of Life or Blue Suit Chit-Chat 98
CHAPTER 22. 101
Rappin' or Community Standards 101
CHAPTER 23. 108
Scouting Locations or Los Angeles Is a Movie Town 108
CHAPTER 24. 114
Wishing and Hoping or The Basic Steps 114
CHAPTER 25. 117
Subtext or This Means What? 117
CHAPTER 26. 120
Tailing or Documenting Failure 120
CHAPTER 27. 123
I Stand My Ground, Sort Of or Running 123
CHAPTER 28. 127
See All the Instant Experts or Nobody Knows Nothing 127
CHAPTER 29. 132
Calm or Maybe Not 132
CHAPTER 30. 137
Civil Un-Resting or The Voice of the People 137
CHAPTER 31. 142
Puttin' Up With It or All Kinds of Courage 142
CHAPTER 32. 146
Real Truth or Is This Just Pillow Talk? 146
CHAPTER 33. 151
In the Middle Of the Night or Swapping Philosophies 151
CHAPTER 34. 155
Facing the Day or How Much Longer Can We Cuddle? 155
CHAPTER 35. 160
Getting Close to the People or Why Some Cops Don't 160
CHAPTER 36. 166
Crude Awakening or Real Life 166
CHAPTER 37. 169
Shelter? or Hide Me In Plain Sight 169
CHAPTER 38. 173
Here Comes Company or Home Invasion 173
CHAPTER 39. 177
Control or Community Relations 177
CHAPTER 40. 181
Squiggle Room or Tank of Wet Sweat 181
CHAPTER 41. 185
LAPD Humor or "You're Not Funny." 185
CHAPTER 42. 189
Out of the Shadows or Your Federal Taxes at Work 189
CHAPTER 43. 192
Do the Suits Really Believe This? or You're Jerkin' My Gher-kin, Right? 192
CHAPTER 44. 196
Let Me Tell You A Story or Would You Believe? 196
CHAPTER 45. 201
Fair Exchange or Blow Me 201
CHAPTER 46. 205
Law Talk Or What I Stepped In 205
CHAPTER 47. 211
Cane the Boys, Cane Them, Damn Their Hides! or This Is Dis-cipline? 211
CHAPTER 48. 217
Alley Ghosts or Cross-Country 217
CHAPTER 49. 228
Interrupt or Meet Have Pity 228
CHAPTER 50. 235
Breakthrough or It's About Time 235
CHAPTER 51. 240
Less Talk, More Laceration or Cutting 240
CHAPTER 52. 244
Leaving Law Behind or Joy 244

Editorial Reviews

While serving in the Central Investigation Department, a Senior Uniform Officer told me, "Field, your problem is your cavalier attitude toward life in general and toward the police force in particular." I can completely identify with Max Royster, a man after my own heart.
~ Brian Field (Detective [Ret.], Metropolitan Police)

Hickey proves once and for all a worthy heir to great novelists like Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, Ed McBain, Dashiell Hammett. His reverence for the PI genre and argot is infectious and enjoyable. With a keen observance of detail, human nature and his own personal failings, Max Royster carries on, the wisecracking, world-weary former cop! You won't want to put these books down, and the surprise finish will make you eagerly await the next installment. Spend the sawbuck, get the books and be prepared for a great read.
~ John Leahy (HRH, El Supremo)

I love LA and I love Max Royster - even with their respective flaws - and am glad Max made his way to the City of Angels. I really sunk my teeth into Hickey's story of a collision between Max's brutally honest NY style and the real issues of LA police brutality. The brilliantly written dialog all rings true. Bravo to Hickey for shining a light on matters of law, policing and community.
~ Annette Mann (LA Litigation Attorney)

Hickey does it again. The best one yet. Frank Hickey brings Max Royster to life through his own real life experiences. The major question is who will play Max in the movie version?
~ Bob Olesen (Lover of good books, Broadway baby, world traveler and adventurer, the swashbuckling James Bond of the international cigar market)

From the Publisher