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Harry Gould #3
Dead Heat
Harry Gould went into the game with fifty grand. And came out of it 30,000 light.
But that was okay. He’d lost to Blackstone, who promptly keeled over with a coronary attack. It could have been worse–he could’ve lost to Bender.
So when Frank “Stillwater” Bender bought Harry’s marker it got worse–fast.
“Harry,” Bender said. “There’s one important lesson I learned from Guido Sarducci, and that is to always have a fall guy to protect yourself. And you, Harry, are going to be our fall guy.”
But that was okay. He’d lost to Blackstone, who promptly keeled over with a coronary attack. It could have been worse–he could’ve lost to Bender.
So when Frank “Stillwater” Bender bought Harry’s marker it got worse–fast.
“Harry,” Bender said. “There’s one important lesson I learned from Guido Sarducci, and that is to always have a fall guy to protect yourself. And you, Harry, are going to be our fall guy.”
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1981
9 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Obstfeld
51 books22 followersaka Laramie Dunaway, Jason Frost, Carl Stevens
Raymond Obstfeld is a writer of poetry, non-fiction, fiction, and screenplays as well as a professor of English at Orange Coast College. He lives in California.
Obstfeld has authored or co-authored nearly 50 books. Since 2007, he has been co-author to eight books with NBA basketball legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Obstfeld has twice been nominated for the NAACP Image Award, having won once. He has also been nominated for an Edgar A. Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Dead Heat.Early in his writing career, Obstfeld wrote under several pseudonyms (Pike Bishop, Carl Stevens, Jason Frost) because he wrote different genres. After writing over a dozen thrillers, Westerns, and occult novels, he decided to return to mainstream literary fiction that he had written in graduate school. Because he’d already achieved some fame as a mystery writer, he decided to write his new novel under the name Laramie Dunaway. The novel, Hungry Women, was written from the points of view of four women friends. It was published by Warner Books without anyone at the publishing house knowing Obstfeld was a man. The novel went on to great success, being published internationally. Laramie Dunaway published two more novels before informing Warner of his gender. The publisher decided to publish Obstfeld’s next novel, Earth Angel, under his real name.
Raymond Obstfeld is a writer of poetry, non-fiction, fiction, and screenplays as well as a professor of English at Orange Coast College. He lives in California.
Obstfeld has authored or co-authored nearly 50 books. Since 2007, he has been co-author to eight books with NBA basketball legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Obstfeld has twice been nominated for the NAACP Image Award, having won once. He has also been nominated for an Edgar A. Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Dead Heat.Early in his writing career, Obstfeld wrote under several pseudonyms (Pike Bishop, Carl Stevens, Jason Frost) because he wrote different genres. After writing over a dozen thrillers, Westerns, and occult novels, he decided to return to mainstream literary fiction that he had written in graduate school. Because he’d already achieved some fame as a mystery writer, he decided to write his new novel under the name Laramie Dunaway. The novel, Hungry Women, was written from the points of view of four women friends. It was published by Warner Books without anyone at the publishing house knowing Obstfeld was a man. The novel went on to great success, being published internationally. Laramie Dunaway published two more novels before informing Warner of his gender. The publisher decided to publish Obstfeld’s next novel, Earth Angel, under his real name.
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October 14, 2019
In many ways I found DEAD HEAT by Raymond Obstfeld in the tradition of the Shell Scott novels by Richard S. Prather: fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek humor, and over-the-top characters.
Obstfeld’s protagonist, Harry Gould, shares another trait with Shell Scott: The women who cross has path can’t seem to stay out of his bed. In this book, he has a steady girlfriend (who is not just gorgeous but also pays the rent on their apartment) but two other women (one a former television star and wife of a gangster) almost jump uninvited into his bed.
The plot is rather complicated. It starts out when Harry leaves a poker game $30,000 in debt. He is hired to impersonate a campaign manager for the wife of a possible gangster (to whom he owes the money) running for state senator. He subsequently becomes involves with an old-school gangster, a wannabe hot shot reporter, an ex-FBI agent trying to get his old job back, and a police detective who is more interested in selling a screenplay than solving crimes.
Not surprising that the action is non-stop and never boring.
Obstfeld’s protagonist, Harry Gould, shares another trait with Shell Scott: The women who cross has path can’t seem to stay out of his bed. In this book, he has a steady girlfriend (who is not just gorgeous but also pays the rent on their apartment) but two other women (one a former television star and wife of a gangster) almost jump uninvited into his bed.
The plot is rather complicated. It starts out when Harry leaves a poker game $30,000 in debt. He is hired to impersonate a campaign manager for the wife of a possible gangster (to whom he owes the money) running for state senator. He subsequently becomes involves with an old-school gangster, a wannabe hot shot reporter, an ex-FBI agent trying to get his old job back, and a police detective who is more interested in selling a screenplay than solving crimes.
Not surprising that the action is non-stop and never boring.
Displaying 1 of 1 review