Rock of Ages, Timothy Hallinan
Rock of Ages, Timothy Hallinan
79 Rating(s)
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Rock of Ages

Author: Timothy Hallinan

Narrator: Peter Berkrot

Unabridged: 11 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 06/14/2022


Synopsis

Junior Bender, Los Angeles burglar and off-the-books detective to the felonious, is reminded that rock and roll will never die (no matter how fervently he wishes some of it would) when Hollywood's most dangerous geriatric mobster, Irwin Dressler, retains Junior's investigative services to solve a rather unharmonious problem.

Four of Dressler's old gangster colleagues have put together a national tour of once-popular rock bands they own a piece of: three nights of concerts by guys (and a few gals) who were big shots back in the 1960s and 1970s, and who are now hoping for one more gasp of glory with this nostalgia exhibition. The Rock of Ages tour has proved itself to be anything but a love fest: plenty of the bandmates have been feuding for forty years, and—perhaps unsurprisingly—drugs and bad behavior have created health, wellness, and legal problems for the musicians and managers. Plus there have been two near-fatal accidents that might have been attempted murders.

But they're not what Irwin Dressler is concerned about. It's that someone—one of his own colleagues—is using the tour as a front to steal Dressler's money. And that simply cannot be allowed.

Now the tour has pulled into LA, and Junior has one weekend to figure out who's to blame—a weekend that begins with his tires being slashed, threatening notes left on his car, and a theatrical backdrop falling on a drummer during the truly terrible first set of the first concert. To make things worse, Junior is saddled for the weekend with his teenage daughter, Rina, who lately has been much, much too interested in how her father earns his living. Can Junior recover Dressler's money, prevent a murder, talk his daughter out of pursuing a life of crime, and somehow survive all that bad music?

About Timothy Hallinan

Timothy Hallinan is the Edgar and Macavity Award–nominated author of over a dozen widely praised books, including the Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers and the Junior Bender series. In 2010 he conceived and edited an e-book of original short stories by twenty mystery writers, Shaken: Stories for Japan, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Japanese disaster relief.


Reviews

Goodreads review by David

Murder and fraud on a rock and roll nostalgia tour. Not as snappy or inventive as others in the series. Too much filler, from show biz arcana (the Plaster Casters etc) to room descriptions. Gets 3 stars only because the Irwin Dressler/Rina segment was sweet - and informative!......more

Goodreads review by 3 no 7

A “Rock and Roll Retrospective” tour goes wrong “Rock of Ages” is part of the continuing “Junior Bender Mystery” series, but it is not necessary to have read previous books to be captivated by this one. Events unfold in Junior’s first-person usually laid-back, somewhat fatalistic, and definitely sarc......more

Goodreads review by Jenna

Normally I enjoy doing this series on audio but it isn't avail yet thru my library so I got the hard cover print version instead. The story dragged but I like the characters & Hallinan's humor shines throughout so I continued reading. Also, I was a bit confused about the ending. Otherwise, I liked it.......more

Goodreads review by Lisa

I love Junior Bender and I love Timothy Hallinan for creating him. This outing has Junior doing a "favor" for the most powerful gangster in LA. Not something he can turn down. On top of that it is on a rare long weekend that he has his daughter Rina staying with him. Lots of complications, lots of l......more