Chain of Fools [Paperback]

Steven Womack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1995

FOOLS RUSH IN. . .
I'd done some crazy stuff off-and-on the last couple of years. My life had gone off in some weird directions. But nothing could match yanking a stoned, naked, sick seventeen-year-old girl out of a murder scene and sneaking her off under the nose of the police.
Harry James Denton is no fool. But his search for a rich runaway teen, Stacey Jameson, takes him to the seamy and very wild side of Nashville. Nobody's chain lays straight, a friend tells Harry. But Stacey's is especially twisted, with links that lead back to a family filled with secrets. Even a hardboiled P.I. like Harry isn't prepared for what awaits him in the depths of hard-core hell, where only he can save a lost girl before she destroys herself or lets a ruthless murderer do it for her.
"Steven Womack has done for male private eye fiction what Grafton and Paretsky did for women operatives in the Eighties, and if you haven't heard of him yet, you will."
--Mostly Murder


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Harry James Denton, a private investigator, has been hired to find a very rich, very troubled, teenage girl. Having runaway from her prominent family, 17-year-old Stacy Jameson has sunk into the sleaze, sex, and sin side of Nashville. These settle over the hero's head like dark netting, slowing and blinding him as he searches the grim bottom of the city. There are many weak links in the novel: too many detailed driving descriptions, dialogue which doesn't work, a few cardboard characters, and a slow start. But readers will be rewarded if they stick with it as the novel gets better with each page.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Steven Womack -- like his protagonist Harry James Denton -- is truly one of a kind. I recall being seated next to Steve at my very first Edgar Awards banquet and noting the white tux (w/ tails!) he wore with complete confidence. He deserved to feel right at home among his writing peers. Steve's first Nashville-set novel about Harry Denton (DEAD FOLKS' BLUES) had won an Edgar a few years earlier. And his recent MURDER MANUAL is worthy of another Edgar!

However, my favorite Steven Womack novel may be CHAIN OF FOOLS. CHAIN OF FOOLS details the darker side of Nashville: runaway teens, seedy strip clubs, drug dealers, and a vicious murderer hunting the young lady Harry Denton is sent to find and protect. It's hardly a cozy, but Denton's humanity shines through the bleak chaos. If you like your mysteries dark and dangerous, CHAIN OF FOOLS will not disappoint.

--Patrick Price, Senior Publicist
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345461878
• ISBN-13: 978-0345461872
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,515,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Womack Book, April 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chain of Fools (Harry James Denton Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Womack continues the story of Harry James Denton as Harry plunges into the seedy "adult" underworld of Nashville in search of a runaway. An interesting story that will hook you from the start and make it hard to put down. If you enjoy a good suspense / mystery, Womack is a great place to start.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good reading, May 1, 2001

By 

Richard Friedman (Lake Worth, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chain of Fools (Harry James Denton Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

While I must agree with the first review- Mr Womack does suffer from a bit of political correctness, I really enjoyed this book and all its characters. It kept me interested, and involved. The author is a very fine writer, and hooked me from the start.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hardboiled Lightweight, November 10, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chain of Fools (Harry James Denton Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I should preface this review by saying that I LOVE hardboiled P.I. fiction. That said, this is one of the sorriest examples I've run across. Though the subject matter is appropriate (teenage girl disappears into the world of underground flesh markets and ends up involved in a grisly murder), the hero, Harry James Denton, just ain't up to the material. For example, would any self-respecting hardboiled P.I.:

1). Nearly pass out from the sight of dead body?

2). Describe a strip joint like a prude?

3). Put up with a girlfriend bugging him to have a baby?

4). Use politically correct terms like "African American?"

5). Have THREE names, for crying out loud?

Not to mention the fact that the story, while told with some grusome detail, reads like an episode of "Spencer For Hire." The characters are stock and you can see the "big secret" coming about a hundred or so pages before the hero does. Forget this one.