The authors have given readers an opportunity to travel with four main characters back to the 30s in California- the state of reinvention. Along with incredible descriptions of the characters and life in the 30s, the authors have included major news stories that occurred during that era.
Marshall Lawe, who was a constable in Peony Springs, Massachusetts, has decided that after losing his job he will travel to California to make a new life for himself. While driving for long hours, Lawe becomes somewhat dazed by the lonely highway and he almost hits a hitchhiker, who is also trying to find his way. Al Haine, an Irishman, is a talker, con-artist, gambler and ladies man. He loves to hear himself talk and really doesn’t care if anyone is listening. Although it is never said outright, readers will know that Haine is running from something.
Lawe is also heading to California because a past love of his is there and he is hoping to reconnect with her. Gladys is a cook and finds that the world is full of surprises when it comes to people from your past. She runs into her cousin and Lawe. Trying to hide that she knows either of them, she changes jobs frequently. Eventually Lawe and Gladys get together much to the dismay of her Aunt Naomi.
The last character to complete the group is a Jean Harlow look-alike, an upcoming actress. Even though she believes she is better than the real Jean Harlow, she finds herself getting into trouble by impersonating her.
This is a fast, exciting read with a lot of historical detail to give readers the chance to see what life was like in Hollywood in the 30s. You’ll find con-artists, bootleggers, drug dens and much more. Each chapter introduces one of the main characters to provide background on how they ended up in California and toward the end readers will see how each of their lives is intertwined.
I didn’t have the pleasure of reading the first book, “Blood Harvest,” where several of the characters were introduced, but if it is exciting as “Tommy Gun Tango,” I can only imagine where the authors can go with this set of characters.
Tommy Gun Tango
Brant Randall and Bruce Cook
Capital Crime Press (2009)
ISBN 9780979996030
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (9/09)
Marshall Lawe, who was a constable in Peony Springs, Massachusetts, has decided that after losing his job he will travel to California to make a new life for himself. While driving for long hours, Lawe becomes somewhat dazed by the lonely highway and he almost hits a hitchhiker, who is also trying to find his way. Al Haine, an Irishman, is a talker, con-artist, gambler and ladies man. He loves to hear himself talk and really doesn’t care if anyone is listening. Although it is never said outright, readers will know that Haine is running from something.
Lawe is also heading to California because a past love of his is there and he is hoping to reconnect with her. Gladys is a cook and finds that the world is full of surprises when it comes to people from your past. She runs into her cousin and Lawe. Trying to hide that she knows either of them, she changes jobs frequently. Eventually Lawe and Gladys get together much to the dismay of her Aunt Naomi.
The last character to complete the group is a Jean Harlow look-alike, an upcoming actress. Even though she believes she is better than the real Jean Harlow, she finds herself getting into trouble by impersonating her.
This is a fast, exciting read with a lot of historical detail to give readers the chance to see what life was like in Hollywood in the 30s. You’ll find con-artists, bootleggers, drug dens and much more. Each chapter introduces one of the main characters to provide background on how they ended up in California and toward the end readers will see how each of their lives is intertwined.
I didn’t have the pleasure of reading the first book, “Blood Harvest,” where several of the characters were introduced, but if it is exciting as “Tommy Gun Tango,” I can only imagine where the authors can go with this set of characters.
Tommy Gun Tango
Brant Randall and Bruce Cook
Capital Crime Press (2009)
ISBN 9780979996030
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (9/09)
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