GOLDMAN'S HARD-BOILED HERO STAYS ABOVE VEGAS FRAY.Byline: Bruce Griffin Special to the Daily News Title: "Where the Money Is" Author: Ivan G. Goldman Data: 182 pages, Barricade Books; $22 Our rating: Four Stars The believers in this world work their way to the clenched-fist YES! of success with "yes sir," "yes ma'am" and "yes dear." But Terry Lasky, hero of Ivan Goldman's Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. novel, "Where the Money Is," is not a "yes" kind of person. As for success, he takes the Vegas approach: "You figure the odds, then go for it; whatever happens, what the hell, it was a good bet." Because he figures the odds, Lasky, Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. veteran, former assistant U.S. Attorney and failed stockbroker, has a knack for staying alive. But he is a man with big holes in his resume - one of which he is making bigger by shilling for Bob's Beer and Guns, a two-bit poker joint in North Vegas not far from the gas station where he parks his trailer. One night, a couple of sleeveless thugs hijack an armored truck carrying the $3 million skim from a mob-controlled casino. In the process, casino security shoots them both, killing one. Then they track the one who lived to Bob's. The guy's name is Berkeley, and Lasky, when he was a federal prosecutor, did him a favor. Now Berkeley finds Lasky's table and whispers in his ear as the cops close in on him. He has a shotgun, the cops are heavily armed, inevitably there is gunfire, and the thug drops. He is not, as it turns out, in possession of any huge amount of money. Why did he seek out Lasky? Lasky himself is baffled, "Clearly he was overwhelmed and alone," Lasky reasons. "So he just whispered and died, relieving himself of the burden. Passing it elsewhere." What is the secret? Goldman doesn't tell us. But one thing is for sure: Whether Berkeley told Lasky where the money was or asked him to feed his parakeet parakeet or parrakeet, common name for a widespread group of small parrots, native to the Indo-Malayan region and popular as cage birds. Parakeets have long, pointed tails, unlike the chunky lovebirds with which they are sometimes confused. , Lasky is a marked man. Everyone, most especially the mob, thinks he knows. More immediately, however, Lasky was sitting with "four fives and a table full of losers" when this guy Berkeley pops up from his past. Then, bang! Berkeley falls dead, the losers scatter in every direction and the cards are lost in the carnage. Like the man said, life is what happens when you're busy making plans. Most of the people in Lasky's Vegas are, if not losers, at odds with life; never responsible for their own lives except when they get lucky: Bags, an ex-convict and Yale professor of economics caught borrowing from a foundation grant to cover some commodity shorts; Rev. Pinky, the ex-rock 'n' roll writer who now preaches the gospel of success in the Temple of Worth; and Max Nettles net·tle n. 1. Any of numerous plants of the genus Urtica, having toothed leaves, unisexual apetalous flowers, and stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact. 2. Any of various hairy, stinging, or prickly plants. - known on the street as Grinder Grinder A slang term for a person who works in the investment industry and makes small amounts of money at a time on small investments, over and over again. Notes: - a mob-owned Vegas police detective who hates it when people use the word "media" as a singular noun. To him it's a sure sign the barbarians are past the gate, "crapping on everything." Lasky fits in fine. Like all heroes of hard-boiled fiction, he is a man of the people A Man of the People is a 1966 satirical novel by Chinua Achebe. It is Achebe's fourth novel. The novel tells the story of the young and educated Odili, the narrator, and his conflict with Chief Nanga, his former teacher who enters a career in politics in modern Nigeria. . Like all hard-boiled fiction, "Money" is a story about Lasky's adventures in search of a secret truth. Marked by our humanity, carrying the burden of having to know what it all means, we all find different ways to the end. Lasky's way is negation. He invents himself by staying above the fray. He says no to his beautiful, politically connected ex-wife, who offers herself in a grab at the payoff. He refuses help from the cops. He declines the good Rev. Pinky. Finally, he says no to the mob. Mr. Goldman is too canny to lay all his cards on the table Cards on the Table is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence. , however. "In Where the Money Is," one spades beneath the fast-paced, tough narrative to discover the same landscape that James Cain James Cain can be either:
Chandler, Raymond Thornton Chandler found on the California coast. Here the continent ends, the gold rush is over, and the land grab land grab n. An aggressive taking of land, especially by military force, in order to expand territorial holdings or broaden power: "The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was . . . yields shifting sand. So, too, in Vegas the possibilities are limited and the American dream American dream also American Dream n. An American ideal of a happy and successful life to which all may aspire: of a big win veils a desert full of carnivorous plants. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo (1--2) Ivan G. Goldman, above, follows in the footsteps of James Cain and Raymond Chandler with his Vegas tale, "Where the Money Is." |
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