The Way You Die Tonight

December 23, 2013
Las Vegas casino veteran Eddie Gianelli continues to reminisce about his adventures with crooks and celebrities in Randisi's entertaining ninth Rat Pack mystery (after 2013's You Make Me Feel So Dead). In 1964, Eddie G., a pit boss and problem solver for Sands Casino operator Jack Entratter, is asked by none other than Frank Sinatra to see that Edward G. Robinson, in town to prep for his poker-player role in The Cincinnati Kid, gets everything he needs. Eddie is also contacted by eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes for advice on investing in Las Vegas casinos. Meanwhile, Entratter's secretary, Helen Simms, has been found hanging from a ceiling pipe in the office restroom. Eddie manages to meet these challenges head-on and still find time to carouse with Frank, Dino, and the gentlemanly Robinson, in this breezy period romp. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary.

December 1, 2013
Edward G. Robinson is in Las Vegas to sharpen his poker skills before starring in The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen. Naturally, Jack Entratter, owner of the Sands casino, turns Robinson over to Eddie Gianelli, pit boss at the Sands and fixer to the stars. Eddie, though, has a busy schedule. Howard Hughes is in Vegas, too, and wants Eddie to give him some inside dope on which casinos might be ripe for the taking. And Entratter's secretary has gone missing, meaning trouble for the Sands. Typically, the stars come to Eddie for help, but this time the situation is reversed, with Eddie calling on the Rat Packers to help him out with Robinson and Hughes, whom Eddie has no intention of helping but worries about reprisals from the billionaire's hard guys. Robinson, a tough guy on screen but a softy off, adds a new and engaging personality to the Pack-dominated mix, and Eddie's pas de deux with Hughes offers an engaging mix of humor and Vegas history. As always, Randisi's light touch and sense of nice-and-easy swing keeps the plot moving in sprightly four-four time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)