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Bullet For A Star Audiobook
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(3.03) - 198 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The first in a mystery series set in 1940s Hollywood, where a hard-boiled private eye helps a cast of real-life stars: "Nostalgic fun" (Publishers Weekly).
Hollywood, 1940: It's been four years since security guard Toby Peters got fired from the Warner Brothers lot for breaking a screen cowboy's arm. Since then he's scratched out a living as a private detective—missing persons and bodyguard work mostly—but now his old friends, the Warners, have a job for him.
Someone has mailed the studio a picture of Errol Flynn caught in a compromising position with an underage woman. Although Flynn insists it's a fake, the studio is taking no chances. Peters is to deliver the blackmailer five thousand dollars and return with the photo negative. It should be simple, but Flynn, a swashbuckler on and off the screen, has a way of making things complicated.
Soon it's up to Peters to clear Flynn's name, following a twisted trail that surprisingly leads to the set of The Maltese Falcon, involving Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. As real-life PI Toby Peters meets Bogie's Sam Spade, he doesn't fall prey to being star-struck. But he may still fall prey to a killer.
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"I liked this lite comedic detective story. I'm in no hurry to read another in the series but will probably come back to this when I want a fast, entertaining read."
— Shawnna (4 out of 5 stars)
Bullet For A Star Listener Reviews
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" Was a cute light read. I loved all the old movie stars. Looking forward to the next one. :) "
— Kim, 1/2/2014 -
" It's a sylish mystery, breezy, full of name-dropping and authentic setting touches, but for me it was just meh. A cute enough way to pass the time, but not outstanding. "
— Carol, 1/2/2014 -
" Not the biggest story but an excellent combination of old Hollywood and gumshoe style. "
— Daniel, 12/24/2013 -
" I've read one other of Kaminsky's books and really liked it. This one was a nice romp through 1940s Hollywood, plus a fun mystery. "
— Felicia, 12/23/2013 -
" Listened to - first in the toby peters series. Luckily they got better. But I still love all of the old hollywood cameos and noir/PI stuff. This one even references Maltese Falcon - how very meta! "
— Coki, 11/29/2013 -
" Fun and easy to read, but not a masterpiece of the genre. "
— Jeffrey, 12/9/2012 -
" I had read #2 in the series and enjoyed it, so I went back and read the first one in the series. I didn't miss anything reading them out of order. I'm really enjoying all the "old" Hollywood references. "
— Cindy, 12/6/2012 -
" It was a fun read. Admittedly I still love Errol Flynn and he's just as dashing in this book as he was in his movies. "
— Jeanne, 7/28/2012 -
" PI Tobey Peters "
— Ruth, 5/11/2012 -
" Very Good; Continuing character: Toby Peters; first in series; Hollywood detective is working to clear Errol Flynn when a photo showing him with a young naked girl shows up as part of a blackmail scheme. "
— Joe, 2/24/2012 -
" Toby Peters w/ Errol Flynn "
— Ed, 9/4/2011 -
" Quick read, kinda fun with the 40s references to aspiring actors. "
— Evonne, 11/29/2010 -
" Was a cute light read. I loved all the old movie stars. Looking forward to the next one. :) "
— Kim, 11/1/2010 -
" Very Good; Continuing character: Toby Peters; first in series; Hollywood detective is working to clear Errol Flynn when a photo showing him with a young naked girl shows up as part of a blackmail scheme. <br/> "
— Joe, 8/16/2009 -
" Toby Peters w/ Errol Flynn "
— Ed, 4/6/2009 -
" Listened to - first in the toby peters series. Luckily they got better. But I still love all of the old hollywood cameos and noir/PI stuff. This one even references Maltese Falcon - how very meta! "
— Coki, 2/26/2009 -
" I've read one other of Kaminsky's books and really liked it. This one was a nice romp through 1940s Hollywood, plus a fun mystery. "
— Felicia, 8/16/2008
About Stuart M. Kaminsky
Stuart Kaminsky (1934–2009) was one of the most prolific crime fiction authors of the last four decades. He wrote sixty books in all and penned twenty-four novels starring the detective Toby Peters, whom he described as “the anti–Philip Marlowe.” In 1981’s Death of a Dissident, he debuted Moscow police detective Porfiry Rostnikov, whose stories were praised for their accurate depiction of Soviet life. His other two series starred Abe Lieberman, a hardened Chicago cop, and Lew Fonseca, a process server. Born in Chicago, he spent his youth immersed in pulp fiction and classic cinema—two forms of popular entertainment which he would make his life’s work. After college and a stint in the army, he wrote film criticism and biographies of the great actors and directors of Hollywood’s Golden Age. In 1977, when a planned biography of Charlton Heston fell through, he wrote Bullet for a Star, his first Toby Peters novel, beginning a fiction career that would last the rest of his life.
About Patrick Lawlor
Patrick Lawlor, an award-winning narrator, is also an accomplished stage actor, director, and combat choreographer. He has worked extensively off Broadway and has been an actor and stuntman in both film and television. He has been an Audie Award finalist multiple times and has garnered several AudioFile Earphones Awards, a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and many starred audio reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.