After rescuing Dean Martin in Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime
(2006) and Frank Sinatra in Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die
(2007), Vegas pit boss Eddie Gianelli and New York gunman Jerry Epstein reunite to save Sammy Davis Jr. in Randisi's breezy third Rat Pack mystery, set in the gambling hubs of Nevada (Tahoe, Reno, Vegas) in 1961. Davis, anxious to recover an embarrassing photo stolen from his home, hires Eddie to handle the exchange. When the transfer produces only a corpse, Eddie and Jerry end up in a lethal high stakes game with blackmailers, hit men, cops, federal agents and politicians—possibly including the newly installed president, JFK. Randisi shows both respect and affection for his historical characters as he highlights the antics of the Rat Park, who made the burgeoning gambling and entertainment empires of Nevada their playground. No doubt the Rat Pack could have used a real Eddie G. (Dec.)
