The Way You Die Tonight (A Rat Pack Mystery)
Edward G. Robinson is in Las Vegas to sharpen his poker skills before starring in The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen. Naturally, Jack Entratter, owner of the Sands casino, turns Robinson over to Eddie Gianelli, pit boss at the Sands and fixer to the stars. Eddie, though, has a busy schedule. Howard Hughes is in Vegas, too, and wants Eddie to give him some inside dope on which casinos might be ripe for the taking. And Entratter’s secretary has gone missing, meaning trouble for the Sands. Typically, the stars come to Eddie for help, but this time the situation is reversed, with Eddie calling on the Rat Packers to help him out with Robinson and Hughes, whom Eddie has no intention of helping but worries about reprisals from the billionaire’s hard guys. Robinson, a tough guy on screen but a softy off, adds a new and engaging personality to the Pack-dominated mix, and Eddie’s pas de deux with Hughes offers an engaging mix of humor and Vegas history. As always, Randisi’s light touch and sense of nice-and-easy swing keeps the plot moving in sprightly four-four time. --Bill Ott