Leopold Borstinski's Blog, page 6

The Mensch has begun…

I am pleased to announce that book 13 has started. And by that I mean that I have began to write The Mensch, instead of outlining, which has taken me a big chunk of September.

The first scene is in the can (as they say on old movie sets) and Alex’s car is in a million pieces. The other scene I have written in my head (several times) is the very last one in the book, which will be the final scene of the series. No spoilers, but it is going to be a doozy.

Leo

PS Don’t forget that Hollywood Bilker is out on pre-order with a drop date of October 8. Grab your copy now so that it arrives on your device as soon as it is available.

Hollywood Bilker: grab your copy now

Hollywood Bilker, the sixth book in the Alex Cohen series is available to buy now. If you order it today then as soon as it is released on October 8, you’ll get your copy from whichever platform you use.

It covers Alex’s life in the 1960s as he attempts to free himself from the illegitimate world he has made his own all his life. Of course, the tentacles of the mob are swarming around himself and his family.

Buy it now at these online bookshops:

Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon AU,

Kobo US, Kobo UK, Kobo CA, Kobo AU,

B&N,

Apple UK, Apple US, Apple CA and Apple AU.

Fill your boots.

Leo

Hollywood Bilker is almost set

The end is in sight. I know I’ve talked about the fact that I have started work on The Mensch but I am still a few days away from getting book 6, Hollywood Bilker ready for publication. As soon as it is done, and I am hoping that will be by the end of the weekend more or less, then I will put it up for pre-order and let you know.

As a quick reminder, the novel follows Alex as he wades through the sixties when three significant figures were gunned down in the US and the Cold War bit into Cuba.

What to do?

With still a little editing to do on my part (and a lot of work for my editor, Melanie), my mind is turning to the 1970s and what is going to happen to Alex in the last book, The Mensch. And on that basis, I am declaring the start of my 13th full-novel.

Now I should confess that I have known the last scene since I started the second in the series, East Side Hustler. Why did it take until number two? Because the first was originally only going to be a standalone book and then I changed my mind based on its early response after publication.

Anyway, I digress. For now, I’ll say that I am toying with getting Alex involved in what was then the nascent porn film industry, although there is ultraviolence to be perpetrated too. The man has been assassinating people all his life, one way or another.

Leo

The final curtain

I am pleased to report that I have finished the first draft of Hollywood Bilker: ‘just’ the editing left to do.

This means that I can put the death of Bobby Kennedy behind me now. I have been writing about the assassination of both Kennedy sons this summer and I’ve been investigating their respective records on Israel and Jewish people. And gangsters.

Over the next few weeks, I will be looking at the 1970s and the end of the Alex Cohen series. Once I’ve outlined the novel, then I’ll let you know what to expect in book seen.

It’s a Hard-Boiled August…

If you have been receiving this newsletter for a while, you will recall that last year I was prone to let you know about free and cheap book opportunities. I must admit that I had stopped doing that by the end of 2020 because I watched interest in those offers wane over time.

But I have now decided to return to these promotions, but no more than one a month, rather than one a week. So here goes…

Here is a collection of gritty crime and thriller novels for you to grab as many copies as you would like. The name of the promo is It’s a Hard-Boiled August… and it looks like a good one, if I say so myself. There’s something for everyone.

Fill your boots.

Leo

1968 and all that

There are many stories about Californian water. The movie which captured that experience best, to my mind, was Chinatown where the dark side of the west coast was revealed in all its stark glory. I know that ‘s life has been problematic, but that does not change my response to the film.

I’ve got to the point in Hollywood Bilker where Alex is thinking of getting involved in the water business. Now I am not pretending that this is a major plot point, but it does reflect the way in which crime and politics collide in Alex’s life.

Talking of which, while France was experiencing revolutionary fervor in 1968, America of course reeled from assassinations: Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. I’m not telling you what happens next right now, but maybe I’ll relent in the future. For now, suffice to say that someone is most definitely going to die: but you’d expect that in an Alex novel, right?

Leo

 

Photo attribution: Photograph by Douglas Jones for LOOK Magazine, in the United States Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LOOK Magazine Collection., Fair use.

A quick favor

I have a favour to ask of you and it will only take a couple of minutes of your time.

The overall score on my Amazon reviews for The Bowery Slugger has dipped below 4.0 out of 5. So if you’ve read the book and can contribute a review, I’s be truly grateful if you would pop over to the Bowery Slugger Amazon page and add a review of your own, It can be short or long: that’s entirely up to you.

Why am I asking? There are certain promo sites I’d like to use for the book which require an average review rating of 4 or more and I have recently gone below that level. This has been caused by a couple of less-than-happy readers, one of whom complained that my novel about Jewish gangsters overplayed the Jewish element and that the real characters like Waxey Gordon were given boring names.

If you can help me, I’d be most grateful. Copy/paste this link if you’ve read the book and take it from there…

Why did Jack Ruby shoot Oswald?

As I know I’ve mentioned in the past, I am working on book 6 of the Alex Cohen series, Hollywood Bilker which takes place in the 1960s. The lead character–I never call him my hero–is involved in Dallas, Texas in 1963. Without giving away too much of the plot, let’s just say he’s been sent there by the mob and he’s not sightseeing.

Within my novel, I understand why Ruby did what he did to Lee Harvey Oswald, but mine is a fiction. To be honest, I don’t think I have a really strong take on why he actually did it. There are so many theories: in revenge for his beloved Kennedy,  he was paid by the mob, he thought Oswald represented an antisemitic faction etc etc. Yet there is some evidence to support each of these competing claims but none stick out as the most likely. Not to me anyway.

If you have any thoughts, please do share them with me. I am genuinely interested in hearing what you have to say.

Enjoy

Leo

Happy Birthday to Him

Back in 1962, Jack Kennedy held a Democrat fundraiser just before his birthday and Marilyn Monroe sang him a shimmery Happy Birthday. It’s worth a listen just because it is Monroe singing.

When you think about the fact that she was having an affair with Kennedy at the time she stood on the stage in Madison Square Garden makes the event all the more emotional. Soon she and Jack would split up and Bobby would be her new paramour. A handful of weeks later and she was dead.

I was drawn to this moment in history because of this strange connection between Jack and Marilyn, as well as Bobby. A bizarre love triangle. For this reason, I decided to insert Alex Cohen as Marilyn’s drug dealer so he is one of the audience members for Jack’s birthday. Needless to say, you’ll be able to read how this plays out in Hollywood Bilker when it is released later this year.

Enjoy.