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Ladataan... Alive!: A Valentino Mystery (Valentino Mysteries) (2013)Tekijä: Loren D. Estleman
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Kirjaudu LibraryThingiin nähdäksesi, pidätkö tästä kirjasta vai et. Ei tämänhetkisiä Keskustelu-viestiketjuja tästä kirjasta. Alive! is the third novel in Loren D. Estleman's series about Valentino, a Los Angeles archivist whose job it is to track down lost pieces of cinema history, preferably to secure said miscellany for his University film studies department. It has long been rumoured that a screen test remained extant of Bela Lugosi in the role of Frankenstein's Monster, a test that was so very dreadful that he preferred it to be reported that he turned down the role which subsequently made Boris Karloff a household name. Valentino isn't thinking about that particular rumour, however; he's got his hands full with the continuing, and hugely expensive, restoration of a Golden Age theatre, not to mention his jealousy concerning his girlfriend Harriet, who is off at a seminar doing who knows what. And then there's his old friend Craig Hunter, a one-time actor fallen into addiction and desperation; Valentino brushes him off when Hunter calls in the wee hours, only to regret it later when Hunter turns up dead. Now it's up to Valentino to follow the trail and find out what happened before something similar befalls him.... I love the idea of a film hunter, it's such a quixotic job to hold, and Estleman is very knowledgeable about film history, which is shown by his extensive bibliographies with which he ends each book in this series. I also like that he includes a character here named J. Anderson Greenwood, a wealthy former publisher of horror magazines; the man is clearly modeled on J. Forrest Ackerman, but only somebody familiar with the horror genre as a whole and film in particular would know that. The characters are all well-drawn and the mystery fairly clued; best of all, one needn't have read Estleman's earlier novels in the series, or his short stories featuring Valentino, to enjoy this book. Recommended. näyttää 3/3 ei arvosteluja | lisää arvostelu
Kuuluu näihin sarjoihinValentino (3)
"Bela Lugosi's Frankenstein screen test puts Valentino in the picture for murder. Everyone knows the Frankenstein monster was played by Boris Karloff. His portrayal is so famous that the play Arsenic and Old Lace was filled with Karloff/monster jokes--even when the part of the monstrously deformed villain was played by another actor. But before Karloff's memorable portrayal, another famous 1930s Hollywood icon, Bela Lugosi, tested for the part of the monster.The screen test footage was lost for decades, until Valentino, that never-say-die film archivist, gets a hot tip about the whereabouts of the incriminating (for really bad, heavily accented acting) footage. But it comes with a price far greater than the money he'll have to pay. Someone would kill to get that reel of film, and that makes Valentino a mortal obstacle who would rather not die for art. People have already been murdered for the film, and Val doesn't want to push his luck...but boy, that reel is too good to let go.... Enter a crew of steampunk fans. Loving the arcane strangeness that is Valentino's life--not to mention the completely glam prospect of seeing the original filmic Count Dracula as the Frankenstein monster--they will find a way to save Valentino and Lugosi's infamous screen test. Or if they can't do that, have a great party anyway. Val just hopes it's not a wake.... In Alive!, Loren D. Estleman delivers a mystery that only he can"-- Kirjastojen kuvailuja ei löytynyt. |
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Google Books — Ladataan... LajityypitMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Kongressin kirjaston luokitusArvio (tähdet)Keskiarvo:
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This is the third book in the Valentino series. I like reading this series because of the film history. Estleman did a lot of research for this novel and included a bibliography of resources at the end.
One of the characters in this installment is a young man who is part of the steampunk movement. The author writes about the clothes, music, and basic esthetics of steampunk. It fits in well with the Frankenstein theme of the book.
Like all of the books in this series, it is an enjoyable read that I recommend to anyone interested in classic movies and likes a good mystery. ( )