First published 2022
Aloysius Archer plans to celebrate New Year's Eve 1953 with Liberty Callahan, his old friend who dreams of movie stardom. The night takes a sharp turn when screenwriter Eleanor Lamb arrives at his door needing help. Strange phone calls plague her. The same car parks outside her house repeatedly. She finds a blood-covered knife in her kitchen sink. Eleanor believes someone wants her dead. Archer takes the case, but events spiral beyond his control. A corpse appears in Eleanor's home. Eleanor vanishes without a trace. Archer teams up with Callahan and his partner Willie Dash to track down both the killer and his missing client. The search pulls him from the mob-controlled streets of Las Vegas to the glittering studios of Hollywood to the shadowy underbelly of Los Angeles. In this city of dreams, beautiful faces mask ruthless ambitions. Corrupt police officers prove more dangerous than the criminals they chase. Powerful enemies will stop at nothing to silence Eleanor permanently, and they will kill Archer if he gets too close to the truth.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, corrupt-officials, missing-person
Setting: Hollywood, Las Vegas, Los Angeles
Period: 1953
421 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing