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A private jet crashes on the Fourth of July. Former rock star Turnpike Bobby Chin is believed to have been on board and died in the crash. Somehow, rather suspiciously, he survives the crash and is discovered in the woods. His story seems unlikely but no one is investigating too closely. Then Christian Josi, a sculptor, disappears from Chin's hotel room and is found murdered. The police believe that Chin had something to do with Josi's death. Jonah Eastman, a mob figure's grandson-turned-pollster, is called in to assist. He needs to create a story about the sculptor's death that will keep the public fooled. Then an au pair vanishes from Atlantic City and Bobby Chin is no longer the driving story. This bothers Bobby greatly and his handlers must keep him distracted until the truth can be discovered. That is assuming that they want the truth to be discovered. TURNPIKE FLAMEOUT is the story of a child star-turned-musician-turned possible criminal. Bobby Chin is, and was, not a talented musician and the public is, and was, not interested in him as an adult actor. He wants attention, as he does not know how to survive without it. Bobby Chin is a rather pathetic figure even if he does have fans and money. The narrator, Jonah Eastman, is also a slightly pathetic character. While being a spin-doctor is not a bad thing, he does not always appear to have morals regarding everyday society. His previous client wanted him to convince the public that toxic waste had benefits for the community. He was unsuccessful in the attempt, but the fact that he did not turn down the client is telling. In addition, his reaction and assistance to Bobby Chin is not exactly reassuring either. While Eastman is definitely interesting and engaging, he is not the type of person I would necessarily want to have to trust. Eric Dezenhall is owner of a crisis management firm and uses this as the driving force of his books. In Dezenhall's previous books, JACKIE DISASTER and SHAKEDOWN BEACH, the focus of the story is how to hide the truth so that only the positive side of things is presented to the public. This writing style creates darkly humorous novels where the reader does not always know what happens until the end.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, March 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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