Review: A Wonderful Look At The Good old Days
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 30, 2012
PLAY HIM AGAIN  was a fun read for me. The roaring twenties, prohibition in full force, and a look at Hollywood in the early days of talkies, an interest of mine.Matt "Hud" Hudson is a rumrunner to the stars. he picks up premium liquor from ships lying outside the legal limits and bringing it ashore, distributing it with his own network of trucks. Unlike others in his profession, he doesn't cut the product and gets premium prices for that reason.Hud also has aspirations to make a talking movie using the new sound systems developed. But the established studios believe it a fad that will fade. But their real reason is the cost that will cut into their profits.When his best friend is killed and the police rule it an accidental drowning, Hud decides to make his own investigation. He knows accidental has nothing to do with it. he supposedly was drunk on rye whiskey and drove off the dock. That couldn't be because the two of them, as kids, had stolen a bottle of Hud's dad's rye and gotten sick. Add to dad forcing them to drink more and more until they really got sick and neither could touch the stuff. The main reason, though, was that his friend's fingers were all smashed, one elbow was dislocated, and both kneecaps were shattered.Hud's friend had been a grifter and someone had caught him in a con. Hud was going to find out what the con was, who the mark had been, and, finally, do something about it.Plus get his movie made before the big studios finally saw the light.Tall order.I like the author's style and the character development as well. Not your standard thriller.Recommended.