Could Martin Talbot's elderly, Alzheimer-stricken mother, Judy, really have been the Black Stiletto? When Martin discovers several volumes of her d...
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Feb 15, 2012
Angela
rated it: 
3.5 Stars
The Black Stiletto was an extraordinary read of a crime-fighting superwoman who went by the name of the Black Stiletto and the story of her son discovering her secret. A fast paced read, I finished this one in an hour and half.
The Black Stiletto starts out with Martin discovering his mother, Judy's, secret. When she was younger, she was the infamous Black Stiletto who fought crime. She was so famous, in fact, there is even a comic series based on her glorious day More...
The Black Stiletto was an extraordinary read of a crime-fighting superwoman who went by the name of the Black Stiletto and the story of her son discovering her secret. A fast paced read, I finished this one in an hour and half.
The Black Stiletto starts out with Martin discovering his mother, Judy's, secret. When she was younger, she was the infamous Black Stiletto who fought crime. She was so famous, in fact, there is even a comic series based on her glorious day More...
Jan 21, 2012
Webbweaver
rated it:
At age 48, Martin just found that his mom, presently in a nursing home with Alzheimer's, is the famous vigilante/superhero, the Black Stiletto. Her real name is Judy Cooper, and during the 1950’s, she became a masked avenger who thwarted evil-doers until she disappeared from site. A lawyer friend gives Martin a key to a room at the house where he grew up, and what he finds are the secrets his mother left for him along with a diary that tells her story.
This was a good book and made me More...
This was a good book and made me More...
Jan 07, 2012
Marlene
rated it:
Read all my reviews at www.readingreality.net
What if you found out your mother used to be a superhero? That's the premise behind Raymond Benson's The Black Stiletto, and it makes for one amazing story.
When I say superhero, don't think of the family from Pixar's The Incredibles. It wasn't that kind of book, and this isn't that kind of family. Benson's Black Stiletto is way more like a female version of the original Bob Kane Batman.
What do I mean by that? Unlike Superman, More...
What if you found out your mother used to be a superhero? That's the premise behind Raymond Benson's The Black Stiletto, and it makes for one amazing story.
When I say superhero, don't think of the family from Pixar's The Incredibles. It wasn't that kind of book, and this isn't that kind of family. Benson's Black Stiletto is way more like a female version of the original Bob Kane Batman.
What do I mean by that? Unlike Superman, More...
Dec 27, 2011
Jeannie
rated it: 
When Martin Talbot is called by the family lawyer to pay a visit, he can't imagine what he is being summoned for. Sitting in the attorney's office Martin is presented with a set of keys, and an explanation that upon his mother's death, or in the event that she becomes incapacitated, he was to be given items that will tell a very unusual story and reveal some incredibly shocking news that will soon turn his life upside down. He walks away from the lawyer with an envelope of cryptic letters and ke
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Oct 27, 2011
Sam
rated it:
Martin Talbot is a 48 year old divorced single dad who is an accountant. His mother, Judy Talbot, has Alzheimers and lives in a nursing home. His life is pretty normal, some would even say boring, until one day when he is given a letter and a strongbox that his mother wanted him to have. The letter is her confession to being The Black Stiletto, a masked super hero that lived in New York City back in the 1950s. In the strongbox was instruction on how he could find other proof in her house. A hidd
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Oct 10, 2011
Tammy
rated it:
The explosions of an action movie or the “Pow! Bam!” of a comic strip are always exciting, but, for most superhero fans, what really makes a successful hero is the story. Setting aside the science-fiction bent of teens with mutant powers or mad scientists exposed to chemicals, underneath the mask is usually a normal person. What made him (or her) reach for a cape and start prowling city streets at night?
Raymond Benson’s The Black Stiletto offers a case study to answer such questions. E More...
Raymond Benson’s The Black Stiletto offers a case study to answer such questions. E More...
Sep 01, 2011
Rhonda
rated it:
I thought it sure a different way to hear about super hero. Martin Talbot mother's lawyer gave him a letter and lockbox and it he learned that his mom was the black stiletto. She was famous back in the 60's and he had no clue. In the box was blueprints of their house and it had a hidden room in basement. Their house has been up for sale for two years.
Martin found the hidden room their house and in it was
a bunch of journals two costumes, the knife,gun and other things. So Martin rea More...
Martin found the hidden room their house and in it was
a bunch of journals two costumes, the knife,gun and other things. So Martin rea More...
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Aug 21, 2011
Stephanie
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 10, 2011
Shay
rated it:
The Black Stiletto
Raymond Benson
Martin is presented with some keys to a secret room in the house he grew up in by his mother’s attorney. There he discovers his mother’s secret life; the same woman who lives in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s. All the clues, meaning her diaries, are leading him to believe that she is the infamous, costumed heroine from the 1950’s called The Black Stiletto. Martin isn’t the only one who is interested in Judy Cooper’s past. Someone who wan More...
Raymond Benson
Martin is presented with some keys to a secret room in the house he grew up in by his mother’s attorney. There he discovers his mother’s secret life; the same woman who lives in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s. All the clues, meaning her diaries, are leading him to believe that she is the infamous, costumed heroine from the 1950’s called The Black Stiletto. Martin isn’t the only one who is interested in Judy Cooper’s past. Someone who wan More...
Sep 12, 2011
Katie
rated it:
I received this from the author, autographed and hardcover (thank you!!!).
I actually really like the book and the premise behind it. The idea that this old lady, riddled with Alzheimer's could be someone as notorious as the Black Stiletto...WOW! I love the way this book was written and typically I don't like the switching back and forth between past and present but in this case, it still flowed well.
The ONLY thing I couldn't get past, that in my opinion, is a little far f More...
I actually really like the book and the premise behind it. The idea that this old lady, riddled with Alzheimer's could be someone as notorious as the Black Stiletto...WOW! I love the way this book was written and typically I don't like the switching back and forth between past and present but in this case, it still flowed well.
The ONLY thing I couldn't get past, that in my opinion, is a little far f More...
Aug 10, 2011
Cheeyee
rated it:
Review At: I Read, I Think, I Share
Review Date: 10 Aug 2011
Review URL: http://littlemermybooks.blogspot.com/2011/08/black-stiletto-by-raymond-benson.html
Summary:
The story is written in first POV, switching between Martin, Judy and Roberto (Stiletto’s old enemies). However majority of the story is from Judy's diaries. She wrote down her background, what happened to her, how she becomes Black Stiletto, and the adventures after that. It is actions pa More...
Review Date: 10 Aug 2011
Review URL: http://littlemermybooks.blogspot.com/2011/08/black-stiletto-by-raymond-benson.html
Summary:
The story is written in first POV, switching between Martin, Judy and Roberto (Stiletto’s old enemies). However majority of the story is from Judy's diaries. She wrote down her background, what happened to her, how she becomes Black Stiletto, and the adventures after that. It is actions pa More...
Aug 18, 2011
Bonny
rated it:
This book was reviewed from a galley received from NetGalley.
Imagine discovering that your 72 year old mother used to be a super hero! Well that is exactly what happened to Martin Talbot. Through his mother's diaries he learns how she ended up on the path to being an infamous super hero wanted for question by the police and the FBI.
His mother, Judy Cooper, was raped at the age of 13, ran away from her Texas home and moved to New York City during the 1950s. There she le More...
Imagine discovering that your 72 year old mother used to be a super hero! Well that is exactly what happened to Martin Talbot. Through his mother's diaries he learns how she ended up on the path to being an infamous super hero wanted for question by the police and the FBI.
His mother, Judy Cooper, was raped at the age of 13, ran away from her Texas home and moved to New York City during the 1950s. There she le More...
Sep 21, 2011
Elie
rated it:
Wow, what a book! I love the superhero genre, anyone that believes superheroes must be confined to the 4 color prison of comic books need to check out this book. The story is told, primarily in flashback form, by the hero's son reading her mom's diaries. His mom, now in her early seventies and suffering from Alzheimers, was once the legendary superhero, the Black Stiletto. This book is focused on the Black Stiletto's origins, how she became a superhero, and the insecurities that come with a youn
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Aug 18, 2011
Amie
rated it:
Imagine finding out that your mom is a famous superhero from the 1950s and you never had a clue. This is the discovery Martin Talbot makes about his elderly mother. All his life, his mom was really the Black Stiletto, a vigilante crime fighter. Martin has a million questions--What caused his mom to become the Black Stiletto? Where did she learn to fight? But most importantly, why didn't she ever tell him? Martin begins reading his mother's diaries, hoping to learn more about the woman known as
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Jan 20, 2012
Lani
rated it:
I'm pretty sure I got this as a Kindle Daily Deal, so I don't think I paid more than a couple bucks for it. I'm glad I bought it, but also glad I didn't pay much.
The book is a neat blend of family drama in the present - real believable characters - and superhero origin story. It shows some of the pathos that creates this vigilante, and the consequences that follow from her fight for justice. I liked that it made it clear that the Black Stiletto acted for selfish reasons, even when sh More...
The book is a neat blend of family drama in the present - real believable characters - and superhero origin story. It shows some of the pathos that creates this vigilante, and the consequences that follow from her fight for justice. I liked that it made it clear that the Black Stiletto acted for selfish reasons, even when sh More...
Aug 22, 2011
Tami
rated it:
I haven't received the book yet, just received notice I had won. 8/1/11
Just received yesterday, have 2 in front, but hope to start soon. 8/9/11
Started last night. 8/18/11
Finished Friday 8/19/11
Martin Talbot, an accountant, has had to put his mother, Judy, into a nursing home. She suffers from alzheimers. After moving her to the home and packing most of her things, he puts her house up for sale. Her lawyer gave Martin a folder containing some important information in More...
Just received yesterday, have 2 in front, but hope to start soon. 8/9/11
Started last night. 8/18/11
Finished Friday 8/19/11
Martin Talbot, an accountant, has had to put his mother, Judy, into a nursing home. She suffers from alzheimers. After moving her to the home and packing most of her things, he puts her house up for sale. Her lawyer gave Martin a folder containing some important information in More...
Oct 14, 2011
Mark
rated it:
Raymond Benson knows how to tell a thriller story. Except this time, he tells the story in a new, creative way.
Judy Talbot has secrets. Now in her late 70s, her Alzheimer's keeps those secrets hidden even from her. Her son, however, has found her long-hidden diaries. Benson shares both the son's story, set in the present day, and Judy's story--as retold through her diaries. Judy, who has had to fight for her independence and safety from an early age, was The Black Stiletto. As the More...
Judy Talbot has secrets. Now in her late 70s, her Alzheimer's keeps those secrets hidden even from her. Her son, however, has found her long-hidden diaries. Benson shares both the son's story, set in the present day, and Judy's story--as retold through her diaries. Judy, who has had to fight for her independence and safety from an early age, was The Black Stiletto. As the More...
Nov 28, 2011
Nai
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jun 21, 2011
Tara
rated it:
This was a book that I should have loved.. and could have loved if it hadn't been for a few irritations.
Why I shoulda loved it: A guy finds his mom's old diaries and learns that his mother, now suffering from Alzheimer's in a nursing home used to be the equivalent to Catwoman. She was the Black Stiletto during the 1950s and 1960s, a woman vigilante that ran the streets of NYC avenging the death of her Italian lover, taking revenge on women beaters, bringing down muggers, and even at More...
Why I shoulda loved it: A guy finds his mom's old diaries and learns that his mother, now suffering from Alzheimer's in a nursing home used to be the equivalent to Catwoman. She was the Black Stiletto during the 1950s and 1960s, a woman vigilante that ran the streets of NYC avenging the death of her Italian lover, taking revenge on women beaters, bringing down muggers, and even at More...
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Aug 29, 2011
Denise
rated it:
The Black Stiletto
by Raymond Benson (Goodreads Author)
Synopsis from Goodreads:
"Could Martin Talbot's elderly, Alzheimer-stricken mother, Judy, really have been the Black Stiletto? When Martin discovers several volumes of her diaries hidden by his mother, he is stunned beyond all imagination. His mother, the underground heroine of yesteryear? The famed, still unidentified woman who battled Communist spies, took on the Mafia, and preyed on common crooks? The woman who ex More...
by Raymond Benson (Goodreads Author)
Synopsis from Goodreads:
"Could Martin Talbot's elderly, Alzheimer-stricken mother, Judy, really have been the Black Stiletto? When Martin discovers several volumes of her diaries hidden by his mother, he is stunned beyond all imagination. His mother, the underground heroine of yesteryear? The famed, still unidentified woman who battled Communist spies, took on the Mafia, and preyed on common crooks? The woman who ex More...
Oct 04, 2011
Karen
rated it:
Martin's mother Judy Alzheimer and has moved into a nursing home. Because of her condition, Martin is given papers, diaries, and a key. What he finds is that his mother was once the Black Stiletto. He learns of a person to totally different from the mother he knows. When he tries to ask her about it, she doesn't know what he is talking about.
There is one person from her past that would like to avenge the death of his brother. Can Roberto find the real Black Stiletto and finish what h More...
There is one person from her past that would like to avenge the death of his brother. Can Roberto find the real Black Stiletto and finish what h More...
Aug 10, 2011
Robert
rated it:
Serious, adult novels about caped or costumed super hero crusaders never work…until now. Fans of action-adventure are going to love this. Those fans probably grew up reading comic books like Superman, The Avengers, X-Men, and Batman comics but put them down sometime in early adulthood and took up more serious reading. Perhaps they are like me and still pick up one of those comic books when nobody is looking and get a private and secret delight in the stories, but they certainly aren’t going to a
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Jan 05, 2012
Steve
rated it:
A fun read in the superhero genre with a unique set-up: A middle-aged son discovers his alzheimers-stricken mother's diaries, and learns that she was the costumed crime-fighter The Black Stiletto in the 1950s and 1960s. He becomes obsessed with the diaries, but it turns out that not all the Black Stiletto's exploits are buried in the past. Benson sets himself up with a difficult task for a writer, with a story that contains three first-person narratives and jumps between the present and 50 years
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Jan 09, 2012
Beth
rated it:
The cover of THE BLACK STILETTO by Raymond Benson is comic-bookish. So you might expect a Batman-type book. It is and it isn’t. What it ISN'T is silly, which is how Batman comes across to an adult. But, like Batman, the Black Stiletto is a superhero. She has superhuman capabilities that she uses for heroic reasons.
But this story is better suited for t.v. than it is for a novel. Let’s examine why that’s true.
THE BLACK STILETTO begins in the present when the woman who used More...
But this story is better suited for t.v. than it is for a novel. Let’s examine why that’s true.
THE BLACK STILETTO begins in the present when the woman who used More...
Oct 01, 2011
Jan
rated it:
Goodreads win. Thank you. I sure hope there will be a sequel, as the author leaves the reader with a lot of unanswered questions, and I have a feeling this is just the beginning of the Black Stiletto's stories. The ending finishes on New Years Eve, December 31, 1958. Therefore, Mr. Benson, I hope we have only just began! I look forward to The Black Stiletto II.
Enjoyable read, modern day time, son, who is divorced with a daughter soon to be going to college, has a mother with Alzh More...
Enjoyable read, modern day time, son, who is divorced with a daughter soon to be going to college, has a mother with Alzh More...
Sep 09, 2011
Pam
rated it:
The Black Stiletto was an "okay" book.
The story was interesting and unique. I liked reading Judy's adventures as The Black Stiletto, because I love reading kick-ass characters who can get away with it. I think that the alternating POVs work for this novel. Present-day Martin, who just found out about his mother's true identity, Judy's entries in her diary when she was the Black Stiletto in the 1950s, and present-day Roberto, who just got out of jail and was in search for Ju More...
The story was interesting and unique. I liked reading Judy's adventures as The Black Stiletto, because I love reading kick-ass characters who can get away with it. I think that the alternating POVs work for this novel. Present-day Martin, who just found out about his mother's true identity, Judy's entries in her diary when she was the Black Stiletto in the 1950s, and present-day Roberto, who just got out of jail and was in search for Ju More...
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Nov 13, 2011
Hira
rated it:
What happens when you find out that the mother you know and love for years, now residing in a nursing home with debilitating Alzheimer's, may in fact be a renowned masked vigilante of her time? Such is the dilemma that Martin Talbot, a 48 year old single dad who is divorced, finds himself in when he is entrusted with a box that his mother had wanted him to have. Inside, he finds her confession to being "The Black Stiletto", a masked superhero in the 50's.
As Martin reads he More...
As Martin reads he More...
Nov 06, 2011
Diane
rated it:
While the premise of the book was interesting and the writing was very good, super heroes and mythical spies are not my genre. A woman, who has Alzheimers and is put in a nursing home, leaves a series of letters and diaries for her son. Reading these he finds out she was the Black Stiletto and a player in many of the politics and captures of mob figures during the fifties and sixties. Characters were interesting and well drawn, book mostly in diary form. Enjoyed it but it was just okay for me.
Jul 13, 2011
Cyberiasha
rated it:
I just finished the black stilleto. The premise for the book was great, a masked female avenger during the 1950's overcoming impossible odds. I was gripped pretty much through most of it. The only thing is I felt the ending was rushed. I rather not give the details but it felt rather abrupt, in terms of how the story was built in contrast to where the story ends. It would have been better if some of the loose ends were dealt with, like some of the extrasensory stuff. Just the same readers will
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Feb 01, 2012
Jessica
rated it: 
This had an interesting premise--Mom has Alzheimer's and the son discovers that she used to be a superhero, the Black Stiletto. He reads her diary and discovers she had a completely different life than what he thought. There's a current day plot afoot as well that connects back to the Black Stiletto's past. I found the writing to be a bit stilted and wooden, and it overrode my interest in what happened to the characters.
Judy Cooper--teenage runaway, young heroine, early onset Alzheim More...
Judy Cooper--teenage runaway, young heroine, early onset Alzheim More...
