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Rail Black #3
Beverly Hills is Burning
"It was just after midnight when the girl in the blue diamond necklace fell out of the sky."
In Hollywood, an ex-con movie producer, fresh out of San Quentin, is lucky if he can get a valet to take his car at The Ivy. Teddy Chessman got his own studio.
Why? Because Teddy controls the most important motion picture property to hit town since agents were invented. And attached to this expected critical and financial bonanza is the biggest female action star in the world, Valentine Jones.
But good plans die horrible deaths, and foolproof ones, worse. And now, the guy who loaned Teddy the money to buy the joint--Rail Black, a former Delta Force operator with a private fortune--is forced to take possession of Teddy's dream. And the bad news is just beginning.
Exploding from ninety years in the past--when gangsters and movie tycoons roamed Hollywood and scratched each other's wallets--Rail is
sucked into a quicksand of unsettled scores, duplicity and death, where a couple of billion dollars in boxoffice seems like small change.
From Southern California to New York, Venice, Havana, Mexico and Cyprus, Rail must disentangle the past from the present and come to terms with his feelings for Barrie Fontaine, a long dead woman--and
extraordinarily brave pilot--he has never met.
And somewhere, out there, is Matty Aspirins, a hitman on a mission all his own.
Welcome to Beverly Hills is Burning.
There will be no intermission.
"Neil Russell is the king of adventure thrillers... BEVERLY HILLS IS BURNING is a tour-de-force of hot action, cool suspense, and steamy sex. ...a once-in-a-lifetime ride with producers, screenwriters, Mafia
hitmen, and money. Lots of money. You'll love this book."
Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of THE BOOK OF SPIES
"Neil Russell's BEVERLY HILLS IS BURNING is everything a thriller should be. Former Delta Force operator, Rail Black is a contemporary knight errant, patrolling the seedy boulevards of La-La Land...reminding me of John D. MacDonald's iconic Travis McGee.
"Description and dialogue are edged weapons, employed expertly...acerbic wit and indelible metaphors paint a mordant portrait of L.A. corruption as only a veteran Hollywood insider could.
"Warning: This is a tough tale about bad people who use gutter language and do ugly things... You shouldn't wait a minute longer to dive in..."
Robert Bidinotto, Bestselling author of HUNTER: A Thriller
In Hollywood, an ex-con movie producer, fresh out of San Quentin, is lucky if he can get a valet to take his car at The Ivy. Teddy Chessman got his own studio.
Why? Because Teddy controls the most important motion picture property to hit town since agents were invented. And attached to this expected critical and financial bonanza is the biggest female action star in the world, Valentine Jones.
But good plans die horrible deaths, and foolproof ones, worse. And now, the guy who loaned Teddy the money to buy the joint--Rail Black, a former Delta Force operator with a private fortune--is forced to take possession of Teddy's dream. And the bad news is just beginning.
Exploding from ninety years in the past--when gangsters and movie tycoons roamed Hollywood and scratched each other's wallets--Rail is
sucked into a quicksand of unsettled scores, duplicity and death, where a couple of billion dollars in boxoffice seems like small change.
From Southern California to New York, Venice, Havana, Mexico and Cyprus, Rail must disentangle the past from the present and come to terms with his feelings for Barrie Fontaine, a long dead woman--and
extraordinarily brave pilot--he has never met.
And somewhere, out there, is Matty Aspirins, a hitman on a mission all his own.
Welcome to Beverly Hills is Burning.
There will be no intermission.
"Neil Russell is the king of adventure thrillers... BEVERLY HILLS IS BURNING is a tour-de-force of hot action, cool suspense, and steamy sex. ...a once-in-a-lifetime ride with producers, screenwriters, Mafia
hitmen, and money. Lots of money. You'll love this book."
Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of THE BOOK OF SPIES
"Neil Russell's BEVERLY HILLS IS BURNING is everything a thriller should be. Former Delta Force operator, Rail Black is a contemporary knight errant, patrolling the seedy boulevards of La-La Land...reminding me of John D. MacDonald's iconic Travis McGee.
"Description and dialogue are edged weapons, employed expertly...acerbic wit and indelible metaphors paint a mordant portrait of L.A. corruption as only a veteran Hollywood insider could.
"Warning: This is a tough tale about bad people who use gutter language and do ugly things... You shouldn't wait a minute longer to dive in..."
Robert Bidinotto, Bestselling author of HUNTER: A Thriller
454 pages, Paperback
First published March 22, 2014
About the author
Neil Russell
4 books25 followersNeil Russell is the founder and CEO of Hollywood Artists Pictures Corporation (HAPCORP), which creates, acquires and licenses intellectual properties for exploitation across all entertainment media. HAPCORP also produces motion pictures, television and music and has begun publishing books through its Rothington House imprint. Neil acquired his first intellectual property when he was in college, and over the course of his career has acquired the rights to hundreds of books, movies, plays, screenplays, short stories, formats, titles, magazine articles, life stories, songs, pitches and trademarks.
A former executive with Paramount, Columbia, MGM and United Artists, he formed his first company, Horizon Entertainment, in 1983, which was later acquired by Carolco Pictures, producers of the Rambo pictures, Terminator 2, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, etc. Neil was involved in all facets of Carolco's business, including the acquisition of entertainment properties like Platoon, Terminator and The Last Emperor and companies like De Laurentiis Entertainment, the Vista Organization and the Wilmington Studios. He was also founder and president of Carolco Television Productions which produced thirty-one high-profile television motion pictures.
In 1993, Neil purchased the assets of CTP and began acquiring intellectual property rights under his own banner. Producing partnerships or licensing arrangements of rights owned or controlled by him have been made with Walt Disney Studios, Fox, Warners, MGM, Sony, Universal, Paramount, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Activision, Georgeville Television, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Tribune Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Heyday Films, ABC Television, Hyde Park Entertainment, F/X Networks and many others. He also authored the book, Can I Still Kiss You?: Answering Your Children's Questions about Cancer and the action/thriller novels, City of War, Wildcase and Beverly Hills is Burning.
Neil works with the major Hollywood agencies, law firms and investment banks.
Note: Hollywood Artists Pictures Corporation does not accept unsolicited material.
A former executive with Paramount, Columbia, MGM and United Artists, he formed his first company, Horizon Entertainment, in 1983, which was later acquired by Carolco Pictures, producers of the Rambo pictures, Terminator 2, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, etc. Neil was involved in all facets of Carolco's business, including the acquisition of entertainment properties like Platoon, Terminator and The Last Emperor and companies like De Laurentiis Entertainment, the Vista Organization and the Wilmington Studios. He was also founder and president of Carolco Television Productions which produced thirty-one high-profile television motion pictures.
In 1993, Neil purchased the assets of CTP and began acquiring intellectual property rights under his own banner. Producing partnerships or licensing arrangements of rights owned or controlled by him have been made with Walt Disney Studios, Fox, Warners, MGM, Sony, Universal, Paramount, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Activision, Georgeville Television, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Tribune Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Heyday Films, ABC Television, Hyde Park Entertainment, F/X Networks and many others. He also authored the book, Can I Still Kiss You?: Answering Your Children's Questions about Cancer and the action/thriller novels, City of War, Wildcase and Beverly Hills is Burning.
Neil works with the major Hollywood agencies, law firms and investment banks.
Note: Hollywood Artists Pictures Corporation does not accept unsolicited material.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 24, 2014
This entire review is pretty much a ***SPOILER***!
To start out, there is some strong language and there are some pretty explicit sex scenes, but these are not a focal point of the story.
I got this book Free for Kindle app, because this is how indie authors make their money, by giving stuff away. This is book #3 of the Rail Black series, so Russell did make beer money, because I wanted to read the first two books before this one. Beverly Hills Burning can be read first, but the 1st two books give you background information that helps you get a better handle on the characters.
I do not know how rich Rail Black is supposed to be, but suffice it to say, money is never an issue to accomplish his goals. I also am not sure how tall he is, but Tom Cruise could never play him in a movie. :) He is former Delta and has a self-deprecating sense of humor.
Rail Black likes to help out people with problems. How he does this is what makes all three of these books so good. In this case, we have two really good stories, one with a timeline in the 1930s and the other in the present. The trick is to connect the two in a plausible manner so it doesn't look contrived. A movie script and huge diamond that is cause for murder in the '30s returns to have the same effect in the present time, and it is up to Rail to sort it all out. This he doe quite masterfully.
This is an ecxellent read, even if you have to pay for it! :)
To start out, there is some strong language and there are some pretty explicit sex scenes, but these are not a focal point of the story.
I got this book Free for Kindle app, because this is how indie authors make their money, by giving stuff away. This is book #3 of the Rail Black series, so Russell did make beer money, because I wanted to read the first two books before this one. Beverly Hills Burning can be read first, but the 1st two books give you background information that helps you get a better handle on the characters.
I do not know how rich Rail Black is supposed to be, but suffice it to say, money is never an issue to accomplish his goals. I also am not sure how tall he is, but Tom Cruise could never play him in a movie. :) He is former Delta and has a self-deprecating sense of humor.
Rail Black likes to help out people with problems. How he does this is what makes all three of these books so good. In this case, we have two really good stories, one with a timeline in the 1930s and the other in the present. The trick is to connect the two in a plausible manner so it doesn't look contrived. A movie script and huge diamond that is cause for murder in the '30s returns to have the same effect in the present time, and it is up to Rail to sort it all out. This he doe quite masterfully.
This is an ecxellent read, even if you have to pay for it! :)
August 2, 2014
Intense. Seductive. Glamorous. Could not put down.
Neil Russell does an amazing job of combining the past with the present in this novel. What an amazing writer! I cannot wait to read the other books that he has written.
He made the transitions seamless - I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened in both time periods. The sex scenes were obviously not done for shock value or just to have them in there - they actually propelled the story along and were always put in the right spots. Not many authors can accomplish what Neil Russell has done. Amazing.
*Disclaimer - I received this book through GoodReads First Reads.
Neil Russell does an amazing job of combining the past with the present in this novel. What an amazing writer! I cannot wait to read the other books that he has written.
He made the transitions seamless - I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened in both time periods. The sex scenes were obviously not done for shock value or just to have them in there - they actually propelled the story along and were always put in the right spots. Not many authors can accomplish what Neil Russell has done. Amazing.
*Disclaimer - I received this book through GoodReads First Reads.
June 23, 2014
A full review will follow later, but here are the high points...
Neil Russell has managed to construct an ongoing series where each individual novel a) stands alone, b) involves events of historical interest or social commentary, and c) manages not to pull any punches. Though City of War is my favorite purely because it was our introduction to the indomitable Rail Black, Beverly Hills is Burning takes a very very close second.
If you're a fan of sexy thrillers and love Hollywood history or mobsters, you're going to love this book!
Neil Russell has managed to construct an ongoing series where each individual novel a) stands alone, b) involves events of historical interest or social commentary, and c) manages not to pull any punches. Though City of War is my favorite purely because it was our introduction to the indomitable Rail Black, Beverly Hills is Burning takes a very very close second.
If you're a fan of sexy thrillers and love Hollywood history or mobsters, you're going to love this book!
July 31, 2015
Neil Russell has hit an out-of-the-ballpark home run with his third installment in the Rail Black saga. Once Russell’s action prose grabs the reader, it’s very hard to stop even to sleep or eat. In this latest effort, Russell hooks you from the very beginning. Literally on Page 1, “It was just after midnight when the girl in the blue diamond necklace fell out of the sky.” The hero is Rail Black, a physically large ex-Delta forces vet, British expat, and Hollywood billionaire. He reminds me of Paladin in HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL - another military veteran with more money than he could ever spend. And Russell’s latest effort combines mob action and Hollywood movie business “history” with some of the greatest historical characters of the last century, moving among New York, Cuba, Hollywood, and Mexico. There are only brief allusions to a military past as a US Army Delta-force operator, but this explains Black’s dexterity with weapons and artful dealings with murderers and mobsters. Rail Black is going to be the next great silver-screen “hero” – and I really look forward to the movie version.
August 3, 2014
I received this book, Beverly Hills Is Burning, by Neil Russell, free in the mail from Goodreads First Reads. This book is action packed & the characters are very well thought out. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery!
February 14, 2015
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started Beverley Hills is Burning and having finished it I am still at odds at how to describe it. It is a man’s book; a wonderful, amazing, intriguing man’s book. It doesn’t mean woman can’t read it; I merely mean it all but ebbs and flows with testosterone. There are several parallel and occasionally intersecting plot lines to follow. One is set in and around 1935, Cuba, gangsters and drugs.
Let’s just get this out of the way this book is loaded with adult language, adult situations, violence, drug use, sex, bondage, sadomasochism and torture. It is also filled with gangsters, from modern times and the distant past; Hollywood insiders and stars of the golden screen.
The main character; or at least the one who ties all of the separate plot lines together is Rail Black, a multi-billionaire, former Delta Force member, private jet owner & tragic widower. He is larger than life, his friends are larger than life his house and cars are larger than life.
With all of that said this book is stunningly brilliant. Each event builds on another, sometimes seemingly unrelated until you get to the reveal and BAM! It all comes together.
Let’s just get this out of the way this book is loaded with adult language, adult situations, violence, drug use, sex, bondage, sadomasochism and torture. It is also filled with gangsters, from modern times and the distant past; Hollywood insiders and stars of the golden screen.
The main character; or at least the one who ties all of the separate plot lines together is Rail Black, a multi-billionaire, former Delta Force member, private jet owner & tragic widower. He is larger than life, his friends are larger than life his house and cars are larger than life.
With all of that said this book is stunningly brilliant. Each event builds on another, sometimes seemingly unrelated until you get to the reveal and BAM! It all comes together.
September 14, 2015
Neil Russell has hit an out-of-the-ballpark home run with his third installment in the Rail Black saga. Once Russell’s action prose grabs the reader, it’s very hard to stop even to sleep or eat. In this latest effort, Russell hooks you from the very beginning. Literally on Page 1, “It was just after midnight when the girl in the blue diamond necklace fell out of the sky.” The hero is Rail Black, a physically large ex-Delta forces vet, British expat, and Hollywood billionaire. He reminds me of Paladin in HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL - another military veteran with more money than he could ever spend. And Russell’s latest effort combines mob action and Hollywood movie business “history” with some of the greatest historical characters of the last century, moving among New York, Cuba, Hollywood, and Mexico. There are only brief allusions to a military past as a US Army Delta-force operator, but this explains Black’s dexterity with weapons and artful dealings with murderers and mobsters. Rail Black is going to be the next great silver-screen “hero” – and I really look forward to the movie version.
August 14, 2014
Why is this so highly rated? Two stories going on here, one in the 30s and the other in the present. Why would an 80+ year old story have any relevance to the other? I read 100 pages into this, skipping the 1930s crap, and the present "story" had yet to begin.
January 20, 2015
Really Enjoy Rail Black! Good stories. Can't wait for the next one!
December 14, 2014
Interesting premise. I could have lived with a lot less description of woman/woman sex.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews