Riding with John Wayne

by Aaron Latham

In his latest triumphant novel, Aaron Latham pits Texas guts against Hollywood glitz when a modern-day cowboy turned screenwriter dusts off his Stetson in order to solve a murder. Chick Goodnight has arrived in Hollywood to write a screenplay about his great-great-great-ever-so-great grandfather Jimmy Goodnight -- the legend who more or less invented the Texas cowboy during the 1870s (and who was featured in Latham's Code of the West and The Cowboy with the Tiffany Gun). As the film's director -- smart and beautiful Hollywood veteran Jamie Stone -- shows Chick how to write for the screen, he finds his quaint Western-inspired code of ethics challenged by an industry in which casting departments pimp for their producers and overzealous method actors feel obliged to seduce their costars. But culture shock becomes the least of Chick's worries when his cousin, a young aspiring actress, dies under suspicious circumstances. Shortly, Chick -- taking a few heroic pages from his own script -- is

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2006

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chick Goodnight wrote a western novel. The novel depicted his great-grandfather, Jimmy Goodnight, as sort of a King Arthur legend set in the old west. This idea, in and of itself, was very intriguing. Chick is hired to write the Screenplay, but sadly, knows little about accomplishing this task. His director, a lovely female, shares his vision and they work together to create the next great work of art.

The Hollywood stuff is what makes this a fun book. Auditions, rewrites, studio foibles, and a really idiotic producer that makes Donald Trump look like Mr. Rogers in demeanor. To top this off-- his cousin, an aspiring actress, is killed in a hit-and-run accident that Chick doesn't think is an accident. While Chick semi-investigates the death-- he quickly zeroes in on a stunt man who was dating his cousin, who winds up working the movie-- and/or the producer who believes in using the casting couch as his own dating pool. The mystery never gets much traction-- it only allows the author to insert conflict (and fun conflict it is) between himself and the producer (who fires him like seven times over the course of the book) and the stunt man (who decks him several times)...

Latham tosses in a very eccentric leading lady who believes so strongly in method acting she ticks off pretty much everyone involved. He also throws in a leading man who is strange in his own ways. The eccentricity of Hollywood is on display as Chick and the director keep overcoming hurdles thrust in their path by the idiot producer and the eccentric leading lady.

The mystery is finally resolved, but not through any really clever detective work-- in fact, it almost seems like an afterthought to getting the movie made. This might remind readers of "Get Shorty" without the gangster stuff-- just the oddness of Hollywood being played for all it is worth,

By the way-- this one uses a lot of strong language and sexual innuendo-- so if readers are put off by that be warned in advance.

[Mike Paradis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Junk. I quit reading it. 1/3 of the way through the book and nothing at about JW. All about the lousy author's miserable life.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I blindly grabbed this book from the library one day; once I got home, I quickly realized it had nothing to do with John Wayne.

I don't typically go for mysteries, but I really enjoyed "Riding with John Wayne." It combines the old west, rural Texas, good ole' boys, divas, the "behind the scenes" life of shooting a Hollywood movie, oh yeah, and murders. It was really entertaining. I'm putting Aaron Latham's other novels on my "to read" list.

My only complaint with this book is that Latham could have kept going instead of ending the story where he did. Not that the conclusion was a bad one, I just would have liked more of a story surrounding the murderer when we finally find out who it is. But, like I said, not a bad ending. Maybe I was just wishing for more pages because I didn't want the book to be over all ready.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book written by the same man who wrote Urban Cowboy. There were several aspects to the book that created the story but didn't overwhelm me as the reader. It wasn't just about one thing. It wasn't just about a movie being made or about someone being killed or about a romance. It was all of those things and he kept me coming back for me to find out about each one. I enjoyed this book very much.