What do you think?
Rate this book
The Rockford Files #1
The Green Bottle
Jim Rockford is expecting a quiet day of lazing around the beach and evading the bill collectors. Lucky for him, he's just found a missing green bottle for a rich and very grateful client. That takes care of last month's bills. But it's not long before Rockford is mixed up in a case of stolen property with thugs who would like to rearrange his anatomy. And it all leads back to the case of the green bottle, which wasn't quite as simple as it looked...
Audio Cassette
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Stuart M. Kaminsky
161 books215 followersStuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 7, 2021
Pretty good P.I. mystery fine-tuned as a companion piece to The Rockford Files TV movies of the 1990s. This is not a novelization of an existing Rockford episode but a new story using the same characters from the show. The book characters, set-up, etc. is slightly different than the original The Rockford Files series (1974 - 1980), the same way as the TV movies weren't quite the same. Rocky, Jim's dad, has passed away and the whole gang, Dennis Becker, Beth Davenport and, of course, the always slimy but in such a fun way Angel Martin, has gotten a little older.
Basically a rich collector hires Rockford to recover his stolen property, which he does. Then, an acquaintance of said wealthy gentleman hires Rockford to find his missing niece who is a wannabe actress (and by all accounts a very bad one). One thing leads to another, nothing is quite what it seems, and before you know it Jim Rockford is being arrested, beaten up, and... Well, the usual.
This is a decent story. The plot gets a little muddled and when it all gets explained it's still not 100% clear but that works to its advantage because there was more than one of the television episodes that had the same issues so it fits in perfectly.
Suitable for most readers. If you're a fan of The Rockford Files then you'll almost certainly enjoy it.
Basically a rich collector hires Rockford to recover his stolen property, which he does. Then, an acquaintance of said wealthy gentleman hires Rockford to find his missing niece who is a wannabe actress (and by all accounts a very bad one). One thing leads to another, nothing is quite what it seems, and before you know it Jim Rockford is being arrested, beaten up, and... Well, the usual.
This is a decent story. The plot gets a little muddled and when it all gets explained it's still not 100% clear but that works to its advantage because there was more than one of the television episodes that had the same issues so it fits in perfectly.
Suitable for most readers. If you're a fan of The Rockford Files then you'll almost certainly enjoy it.
February 23, 2025
Most novels based on television programs are sorely lacking. They either don't capture the characters and setting well or are poorly crafted tales.
This was neither. Kaminsky crafts a tale of Chinese painting inside a Bottle Collections and missing teenagers that rates up there with some of the best private eye writing out there. On top of that, Kaminsky does a wonderful job of capturing the character of Jim Rockford. Carefully contructed and in balance is the relationship Rockford has with his former cellmate, Angel Martin. His concern for his friend is balanced with his exasperation for becoming involved in Martin's scams. His always difficult relationship with Lt. Becker comes through. His reluctance to dance his way out of trouble is well-presented. I can see James Garner uttering the lines that Kaminsky puts in Rockford's mouth and making them all work.
Just Re-read this one-- Again, Kaminsky captures the flavor of the TV series just about perfectly. I did not remember reading this one before- but I did enjoy it all over again.. Guess I'm getting old enough that I forget reading stuff a few years back... Kind of embarrassing.
This is not a television tie-in that disappoints, but a fine detective novel that does nothing but compliment the Rockford Files.
This was neither. Kaminsky crafts a tale of Chinese painting inside a Bottle Collections and missing teenagers that rates up there with some of the best private eye writing out there. On top of that, Kaminsky does a wonderful job of capturing the character of Jim Rockford. Carefully contructed and in balance is the relationship Rockford has with his former cellmate, Angel Martin. His concern for his friend is balanced with his exasperation for becoming involved in Martin's scams. His always difficult relationship with Lt. Becker comes through. His reluctance to dance his way out of trouble is well-presented. I can see James Garner uttering the lines that Kaminsky puts in Rockford's mouth and making them all work.
Just Re-read this one-- Again, Kaminsky captures the flavor of the TV series just about perfectly. I did not remember reading this one before- but I did enjoy it all over again.. Guess I'm getting old enough that I forget reading stuff a few years back... Kind of embarrassing.
This is not a television tie-in that disappoints, but a fine detective novel that does nothing but compliment the Rockford Files.
June 5, 2021
Great if you are a "Rockford Files" fan. Otherwise this is an okay whodunit which, interestingly, Rockford narrates in the first-person.
March 18, 2022
Stuart Kaminsky and Jim Rockford, it can't get any better.
Read
January 7, 2022A series started by the author of the Toby Peters series, one of my all-time favorites, this is a new adventure of Jim Rockford taking place after his father Rocky passed on. The characters (so far just Jim and Angel) are convincingly written as is the LA setting.
Beth Davenport and Dennis Becker also portrayed winningly. Nice local color on the trip up north.
A great car chase incident and a wrap-up that works to make this a great one-off as well as a start of a series.
Beth Davenport and Dennis Becker also portrayed winningly. Nice local color on the trip up north.
A great car chase incident and a wrap-up that works to make this a great one-off as well as a start of a series.
July 16, 2014
Entertaining, although Kaminsky's other Rockford book was a little better.
Want to read
February 28, 2019Synopsis: beach-bum (and TV star) Jim Rockford gets mixed up in a case of stolen property with thugs who would like to rearrange his anatomy.
July 29, 2009
Surprisingly good.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews