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Forbidden Hollywood
When a small-time blackmailer threatens to expose the dark secrets of a beautiful and wealthy movie star, he suddenly finds himself caught up in a deadly web of vengeance, twisted sexuality, and murder, in a dark noir thriller set during Hollywood's golden era. Original.
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2002
About the author
William Prendergast
26 booksWilliam Prendergast is a writer who has covered Michele Bachmann’s political career since 2003, when he worked as a columnist at the Stillwater (Minn.) Gazette. He is the author of Forbidden Hollywood and blogs on politics for Minnesota Progressive Project and Daily Kos.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
March 17, 2018
Being mostly interested in early Hollywood, from the silent era through to the 1940s, I decided to take a chance with this book set in Hollywood's Golden Age and was pleasantly surprised by its unusual and effective features. The main feature the reader immediately notices is the narrative in the first person sounding exactly like the voice-over in gritty Film Noir classics. Unlike the movies however, the book's narration never ends for a scene or two, making it a most captivating and compulsive read from the first word to the last.
The steady fast pace of the story as events quickly unfold and develop does not skim over important details describing places and people, and despite the uncommon style, it is obvious that the author has found the perfect balance between action, suspense, drama and humour. The story flows very easily, appearing to be a simpler book than it actually is, involving the reader in its irresistible tone and atmosphere so that he or she is hopelessly hooked right from the start.
Another intriguing feature of "Forbidden Hollywood" is that the main character telling the story is not the hero or good guy, as is usually the case; nor does the reader ever find out his real name. This unorthodox approach is nevertheless very successful because the narrator of the story is something of a Robin Hood character, blackmailing and taking from the filthy rich during the Depression when work was scarce and one had to use initiative and imagination to make money. In "Forbidden Hollywood", our unlikely hero makes his way to Los Angeles and begins using the name Bill Hart, after the famous silent Western actor, William S. Hart. Many famous names of the first few decades of Hollywood are mentioned, including studios and their bosses, but the characters involved in the story are fictional. Always an opportunist, Hart and his partner-in-crime steal a box of sentimental items from one of Hollywood's most beautiful and mysterious actresses, and on realizing her deep, dark secret, attempt to blackmail her. But people who have made it big in Hollywood are tough, and have gotten to the top by unscrupulous means, leaving Hart and his friend in way over their heads. A straightforward case of blackmail leads to counter-blackmail and double-cross, as well as a few killings and murders.
Reading "Forbidden Hollywood" takes the reader back in time, reviving memories of old movies, Film Noir and images of Hollywood's glamorous Golden Age, complete with the ugly downside of its glittering perfect image. Furthermore, the narration feels so authentic to the reader that the story almost becomes real and believable, leaving the characters and events lingering in the mind long after the book has been read.
The steady fast pace of the story as events quickly unfold and develop does not skim over important details describing places and people, and despite the uncommon style, it is obvious that the author has found the perfect balance between action, suspense, drama and humour. The story flows very easily, appearing to be a simpler book than it actually is, involving the reader in its irresistible tone and atmosphere so that he or she is hopelessly hooked right from the start.
Another intriguing feature of "Forbidden Hollywood" is that the main character telling the story is not the hero or good guy, as is usually the case; nor does the reader ever find out his real name. This unorthodox approach is nevertheless very successful because the narrator of the story is something of a Robin Hood character, blackmailing and taking from the filthy rich during the Depression when work was scarce and one had to use initiative and imagination to make money. In "Forbidden Hollywood", our unlikely hero makes his way to Los Angeles and begins using the name Bill Hart, after the famous silent Western actor, William S. Hart. Many famous names of the first few decades of Hollywood are mentioned, including studios and their bosses, but the characters involved in the story are fictional. Always an opportunist, Hart and his partner-in-crime steal a box of sentimental items from one of Hollywood's most beautiful and mysterious actresses, and on realizing her deep, dark secret, attempt to blackmail her. But people who have made it big in Hollywood are tough, and have gotten to the top by unscrupulous means, leaving Hart and his friend in way over their heads. A straightforward case of blackmail leads to counter-blackmail and double-cross, as well as a few killings and murders.
Reading "Forbidden Hollywood" takes the reader back in time, reviving memories of old movies, Film Noir and images of Hollywood's glamorous Golden Age, complete with the ugly downside of its glittering perfect image. Furthermore, the narration feels so authentic to the reader that the story almost becomes real and believable, leaving the characters and events lingering in the mind long after the book has been read.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review