Martha M. (HorseLadyRI) reviewed The Prince of Beverly Hills (Rick Barron, Bk 1) on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
One of Stuart Woods' better books in my opinion. The charactors are well defined, flaws and all. Fun mystery book about the working of the movie business and Hollywood stars, their egos and eccentricities, and the detective who protects one of Hollywood's most elite actors
Christine P. (chrissy77) reviewed The Prince of Beverly Hills (Rick Barron, Bk 1) on + 149 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A recently demoted police detective gets caught up in the privileged and often dangerous world of 1939 Hollywood in Wood's solid 29th novel. His first night back in uniform, Rick Barron witnesses a car accident in which Clete Barrow, a drunk Hollywood A-lister, is involved. Though the other driver dies, Rick performs "Hollywood damage control," whisking Clete away from the scene. Centurion Studios' vice-president, grateful for Rick's "professional ethics," offers him the director of security post previously held by John Kean, who died in a suspicious murder-suicide a month earlier. Rick delivers Clete to the sets on time and keeps the star's drinking problem in check while dining at restaurants buzzing with vintage Hollywood royalty like Greta Garbo, Jack Benny and Spencer Tracy. He also comes to the studio's rescue again by covering up gorgeous starlet Glenna Gleason's apparent suicide attempt and budding actress Martha Werner's botched abortion. X-rated pictures that Rick finds in Kean's old safe get him into discussions with L.A. mob boss Bugsy Siegal while ducking blows from his henchman, Chick Stampano, who, along with Glenna and the Keans, appears in those pics. While romancing Glenna and gaining heroic notoriety, Rick learns of Stampano's involvement in a variety of crime scenes and, after the violence notches up, the men square off in an exciting head-to-head climax. Woods's sturdy, self-assured crime thriller is satisfying enough to expand an already immense fan base.
Cindy H. (catnip38) reviewed The Prince of Beverly Hills (Rick Barron, Bk 1) on + 156 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A brash detective enters the Hollywood fast lane - jammed with the sort of wealth, glamour, and blackmail that made the town famous. After a run-in with his Captain, Rick Barron, finds himself demoted, but soon lands a job on the security detail for Centurion, one of the hottest studies in town. When he unearths a murder cover-up and a blackmail scam, he finds himself up against West Coast wise guys whose stakes are do-or-die...
Ronald A. (rarendt) reviewed The Prince of Beverly Hills (Rick Barron, Bk 1) on + 107 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Stuart Woods used to be a better writer than this. I started reading him when he wrote his first hit "Chiefs", and have read (or at least started) everything he has written up to this book. His early work was always worth reading with a lot of different and interesting characters and entertaining plots. Somewhere along the line, sometime within the last five years, success seems to have spoiled him.
This book was, at least, not another Stone Barrington bedroom marathon; it was a stand-alone piece set in the pre-WW2 Hollywood film community. The hero, as usual, is a hunk, a Beverly Hills policeman, recently demoted from detective for sexuasl pecadillos, who stretches the law one night to save the skin of a fictitious movie leading man, and, as a result, becomes head of secfurity for a studio. He seems to just fall into everything after that, great cars, good looking women (Wood never writes about any plain-looking people), drinks and dinner with the Holltywood elite.... I didn't finish the book, so things may have got more interesting after the first 150 pages, but my remaining life span is probably too short, and there are too many other books I really want to read. Probably a good airplane or beach book; you won't really care if you forget it on the plane or in the sand.
This book was, at least, not another Stone Barrington bedroom marathon; it was a stand-alone piece set in the pre-WW2 Hollywood film community. The hero, as usual, is a hunk, a Beverly Hills policeman, recently demoted from detective for sexuasl pecadillos, who stretches the law one night to save the skin of a fictitious movie leading man, and, as a result, becomes head of secfurity for a studio. He seems to just fall into everything after that, great cars, good looking women (Wood never writes about any plain-looking people), drinks and dinner with the Holltywood elite.... I didn't finish the book, so things may have got more interesting after the first 150 pages, but my remaining life span is probably too short, and there are too many other books I really want to read. Probably a good airplane or beach book; you won't really care if you forget it on the plane or in the sand.
