In the words of Lee Child on Gone to Dust, “I want more of Nils Shapiro.” New York Times-bestselling and Emmy Award-winning author Matt Goldman happily obliges by bringing the Minneapolis private detective back for another thrilling, standalone adventure in Dead West. Nils Shapiro accepts what appears to be an easy, lucrative job: find out if Beverly Mayer’s grandson is foolishly throwing away … grandson is foolishly throwing away his trust fund in Hollywood, especially now, in the wake of his fiancée’s tragic death. However, that easy job becomes much more complicated once Nils arrives in Los Angeles, a disorienting place where the sunshine hides dark secrets.
Nils quickly suspects that Ebben Mayer’s fiancée was murdered, and that Ebben himself may have been the target. As Nils moves into Ebben’s inner circle, he discovers that everyone in Ebben’s professional life–his agent, manager, a screenwriter, a producer–seem to have dubious motives at best.
With Nils’ friend Jameson White, who has come to Los Angeles to deal with demons of his own, acting as Ebben’s bodyguard, Nils sets out to find a killer before it’s too late.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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This the fourth book in the Nils Shapiro series, and I’ve not read any of the first three. The publisher is calling this a standalone book in the series.
Nils Shapiro is a private investigator in Minneapolis and is hired by the wealthy grandparents of Ebben Mayers to find out what he’s doing with the trust fund he inherited when he turned thirty. They’re afraid he may be throwing his money away on film projects in Hollywood. Ebben is mourning the death of his fiancé, Juliana Marquez. With Jameson White, a six-foot-seven sweetheart of a man, as his bodyguard, Nils heads for Hollywood.
I got this book because of the positive reviews about the author and this series. However, it didn’t take me long to realize this writer is not my cup of tea. The book reads as if he were trying to channel one or more of the noir writers from the 1940s – and fails miserably. Right off the bat, on page one, when Goldman is describing the woman who is hiring him as her “gray hair appeared long, but was twisted and folded on top of her head like a challah.” I can’t even picture what the woman looked like when her head looks as if a loaf of bread is sitting on top of it. Then Goldman describes the woman’s husband as having a “neck too small for his white dress shirt – the shirt didn’t touch his neck the way Saturn’s rings don’t touch Saturn.” I should have stopped reading right then and there. But, unfortunately, I continued with the book. I also ended up thinking that this author writes like a teenaged boy trying to copy a famous writer and failing wretchedly. I was left wondering what I was missing.
However, I did stop reading when it takes Goldman’s main character less than ten minutes, and without asking a single question, to realize that Juliana Marquez had been murdered.
If you’ve read other of Goldman’s books and enjoyed them, you will undoubtedly love this one. But if you’re looking for a well-written, well-plotted, creative story with strong character development, you might want to look elsewhere.
My thanks to Forge Press and Edelweiss for an eARC.
Matt Goldman captures L.A. in a way that is entertaining, but not over-the-top. “Dead West” is a fun, entertaining mystery with a witty detective protagonist.
Nils Shapiro is out of Minneapolis and set down in LA with his side kick Jameson. A little out of his element, but there to do a job. The book is a quick read, entertaining, with murders to solve and people to protect…
“Dead West” is a story of films and family, devotion and deception, danger and redemption. It is part of Goldman’s series that features Nils Shapiro and Stone Arch Investigations, and new readers will find any necessary background information contained within the narrative. Beverly Mayer is worried about her grandson whose fiancé just died in Los Angeles. She is afraid that he has fallen in with the wrong crowd in Hollywood and is squandering the family fortune.
The story unfolds in Shapiro’s first person narrative. He talks directly to readers, and he talks to himself — a lot; he even talks to himself when he is in a coma. He describes himself as a justice freak with an intrinsic need to find the truth. The plot is conversation driven, so readers hear what Shapiro says to people and what they say to him. The characters are complex, and relationships are well developed. People and details from previous books are seamlessly integrated into this story.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles and conducting a quick investigation, Shapiro immediately recognizes that the fiancé had been murdered and knows who did it, but of course he does not share that with readers. The story has a SoCal vibe, of course, with weather very different from Minnesota as well as unique L.A. geography, commerce, traffic, and famous movie culture.
This is a town where everything is for sale, houses do not have basements, and everyone has an idea for a series, including Shapiro.
Goldman seamlessly resolves complications from the past while keeping readers involved in the current case. I received a review copy of “Dead West” from Matt Goldman, Macmillan Publishing, and Forge Books. This is not a “formula” series, not just the same old plot but with different names. The characters are familiar and yet change and grow over time; every book is unique, readable, and compelling with humor as an added bonus.
And, this one has a very interesting way to hide a safe.
great reading
Matt Goldman has done it again, writing an entertaining and engaging P.I. novel featuring Nils Shapiro his Minnesota based fun-loving P.I. In Dead West, Nils is dispatched to Los Angeles to ensure that his client’s grandson is not frittering away his inheritance making movies that nobody will see. When Nils arrives, he finds out that his client’s grandson is attempting to produce a movie. But he is eliminating the usual production and distribution personnel attempting to save money and create a unique product. All is well but soon enough people are being injured and are in constant danger, including Nils and his assistants. The fun never ends as Nils and his staff dig around trying to discover who has it in for his client’s grandson. Hollywood meets Los Angeles in Dead West and the combination makes for an exciting and carefree read.