I'll give Mr. Belzer this, at least he knows how write in his own voice and it's obvious he had a blast writing this book. While not as funny as I'd hoped it would be, it was nice to see a slice of New York you don't often see in books, like the Russians who inhabit Brighton Beach and the Russian mafiya which has reared its ugliness in recent years.

As with any book in this genre (accidental detective?) the situations are a little, OK, a lot improbable, but then it wouldn't be much fun to read otherwise, right? ( )

couldn't get interested

A hilarious novel written by one of New York's finest - well, on TV at least. Our hero, the snarky actor-turned-investigator Richard Belzer (yes, the same Belzer!) tracks down the people responsible for his friend's disappearance with his usual dry wit and unapologetic way with words. Drags a bit at places, but wraps up nicely at the end and never fails to satisfy. I'll definitely be reading the next one in the series - and I really hope Mr. Belzer (the actor, not the character) continues his latest career as fiction writer for a couple more novels, at least :) ( )

Very interesting, almost conversational tone to this book. I'm liking it so far. Definitely feels like I'm sitting at a table and the actor is telling me a story.

I think I'm getting spoiled by movies and TV, where the building, suspense, and clues are either more obvious or less scattered. This book is opening lots of empty closet doors, or so it seems. I have a suspicion about a character, but it would be a standard trope...

As I read, I'm definitely getting the sense that the main character is a Mary Sue of the actor, with what he'd hope would happen. Which is coloring my view of the book even more.

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Okay, so I am definitely either reading too many of these type books or something. The suspicion I had of one character proved to be true. In fact, I knew it the moment the character appeared on the page. Shoot, most of the last two chapters read like a cliché. Even the ending had that predictable trope like ring to it. One other twist I wasn't completely buying, really I still don't, though it does sound plausible.

For a fiction book by a stand up comic and actor, this probably isn't that bad for a first attempt. I could see places I'd tighten the prose, places where I'd add description, and places I'd just drop.

A good decent read when you really don't want to think... ( )

I really liked this book, which was somewhat of a surprise. I decided to try it because I like Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch on Law & Order SVU, but loved him in the same role on Homicide: Life on the Streets where the role originated.

So, I figured I would give the book a try, see if he wrote as well as he acted - and surprisingly, he does!

It was a bit of shock to realize that the main character in this book is Richard Belzer, that took a while to get used to but paid off in the end. Because he used his own voice he was able to really give a feeling of familiarity and some great inside looks at the making of a blockbuster TV show. He was careful to not bring other members of the cast into the story, other than by inference, like - yeah, he knows which "she" someone is referring to when they want an autographed photo.

The mystery is built around friendship, one of his close friends disappears, then sends him a mysterious letter with a riddle he feels he has to solve. When he starts running into a few of the less "kind" members of the Russian community (Little Odessa) things start getting interesting.

Kalisha (Kali) is introduced as Belzer's shadow, appointed by the brass of the show to try and keep him out of trouble. Of course, they had no idea that she would jump right in to help out any way she can.

It was a fast, fun read and I'm going to read the next in the series. ( )