Flinch (Hardcover)

by Robert Ferrigno (Author) "Never take a woman on vacation to someplace where the cockroaches are bigger than your dick," said Jimmy, scratching away at his reporter's notepad..." (more)
Key Phrases: safety slugs, pool house, label maker, Philip Kinneson, Detective Holt, Jane Holt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Penzler Pick, August 2001: His previous thriller, Heartbreaker, was a smooth slam-dunk of a novel. Now Robert Ferrigno is back with his sixth book--and he's still making it look easy. Those who don't already know Ferrigno's work-- especially fans of Elmore Leonard, Daniel Woodrell, Robert Crais, and Carl Hiaasen looking to broaden their horizons--should check out this tale of sibling rivalry and serial murder in sunny, sinister Los Angeles.

Jimmy Gage, the hero, is a journalist, and a hard-working one. But when he's on the job, he doesn't cover school board meetings, mayoral press conferences, or even Lakers games. If a story doesn't have some angle that can sharpen his skewer, offering new ways to puncture the pompous, satirize the starstruck, or engineer an exposé, he'll move on to the next lurid opportunity. He's also a take-no-prisoners film reviewer, which is the same as being loathed and feared in a town where just about every dental hygienist has a script in turnaround. And in case these responsibilities are not keeping him busy enough, Jimmy writes a column slugged "Media Whore" for his employer, the wholly disreputable SLAP magazine.

Savvy readers probably won't be shocked to find beneath Jimmy Gage's jeering exterior a highly moral guy whose cynicism masks--as cynicism often does--an all-too-vulnerable romantic soul. Unfortunately, when a vicious serial killer calling himself "The Eggman" starts sending Jimmy boastful letters about his crimes, the police see it only as a tabloid tease set up by Jimmy himself.

Flinch is a terrific title for a story in which every character is an antagonist of at least one other. Why is Jimmy Gage sleeping with his brother's wife? And why is his brother making a strange set of Polaroids appear and disappear? Who is going to look away first? Whose self-control is out of control? You'll have to read it to discover the answer. --Otto Penzler

From Publishers Weekly
In this engaging, darkly comic thriller, tabloid journalist Jimmy Gage returns to Los Angeles from a self-imposed exile and finds his ex-girlfriend, Olivia, married to his brother, Jonathan, a polished and philanthropic plastic surgeon. The brothers' absurdly competitive relationship the title of Ferrigno's sixth novel (after The Horse Latitudes) refers to a childhood game in which each tried to make the other flinch is ratcheted up significantly when Jimmy finds Polaroid "splatter shots" of six bodies in Jonathan's possession. Are the people in the pictures the victims of the self-styled serial killer Eggman, who took responsibility for the crimes in a letter to Jimmy? Or are they simply random corpses, part of the "background noise" of contemporary L.A.? A huge cast of quirky, interesting characters, multiple story lines and an indelible setting contemporary Los Angeles with its "blank sensuality and lubricious greed" contribute to the densely patterned mosaic of this always entertaining and often riveting novel. Ferrigno is a great interpreter of L.A., a city of manufactured dreams and unbridled ambition, and an incisive critic of its popular culture. Scenes and characters bristle with energy, and the conflict between the brothers is real and compelling. Ferrigno may bite off more than he can chew at times the tangled plot sometimes obscures the drama, and the mesh linking all the elements could be more tightly woven. Still, the expansive canvas, spot-on characterizations, excellent prose and incisive dialogue will please those readers who like their mysteries more complex and ambitious than the average work of genre fiction. Agent, Mary Evans. 15-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1 edition (October 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375401253
• ISBN-13: 978-0375401251
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,269,635 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2* Orange COunty, Painted Noir, April 14, 2003

By	M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Flinch" is a fast-paced mystery detailing a cat and mouse game between a low-rent journalist and his brother, a high priced plastic surgeon who the journalist suspects of being a serial killer. The title refers to the relatively innocent sado-masochistic games of their adolescence, magnified in the present to deadly proportions.

Ferrigno writes in an updated noir style, using crisp dialogue, oversized villains, and the sleazy/glitzy settings in Orange County, California. Although writer Jimmy Gage has the requisite cynicism and a balance of fair play and tough defiance, he's not strictly out of the Sam Spade mode either: His sense of moral outrage is a bit askew, and he doesn't always use the best of judgment. Additionally, the novel contains some very graphic violence, more gruesome than the traditional style.

The novel moves briskly, unimpeded by the several minor characters and related subplots. Other than a romance with Detective Jane Holt that develops a little too quickly, the plot twists are both plausible and genuinely surprising. Ferrigno captures the outrages and pretenses of Southern California without stereotyping. Much better than his more famous "The Horse Latitudes," Ferrigno has written a brisk and believable story that grabs your attention from the first page.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't flinch! This is an excellent book., October 10, 2001

By	David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Flinch" is a unique book that defies categorization. It combines intriguing mystery with edgy satire, all complemented by wickedly dark humor. Robert Ferrigno has created a fascinating place, populated with some delightfully whacko characters. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to these people next.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about "Flinch" is how sympathetic a character Jimmy Gage (the protagonist) turns out to be. Under his callous, jaded, and cynical exterior beats the heart of a warm and honorable man. His character gives the story a firm center, grounding the madness in reality, and thus making the story more moving and effective.

Read it for the mystery, read it for the humor -- whatever the reason, just read "Flinch." You won't be disappointed.

Reviewed by David Montgomery, Mystery Ink

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2* Orange COunty, Painted Noir, April 14, 2003

By	M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Flinch" is a fast-paced mystery detailing a cat and mouse game between a low-rent journalist and his brother, a high priced plastic surgeon who the journalist suspects of being a serial killer. The title refers to the relatively innocent sado-masochistic games of their adolescence, magnified in the present to deadly proportions.

Ferrigno writes in an updated noir style, using crisp dialogue, oversized villains, and the sleazy/glitzy settings in Orange County, California. Although writer Jimmy Gage has the requisite cynicism and a balance of fair play and tough defiance, he's not strictly out of the Sam Spade mode either: His sense of moral outrage is a bit askew, and he doesn't always use the best of judgment. Additionally, the novel contains some very graphic violence, more gruesome than the traditional style.

The novel moves briskly, unimpeded by the several minor characters and related subplots. Other than a romance with Detective Jane Holt that develops a little too quickly, the plot twists are both plausible and genuinely surprising. Ferrigno captures the outrages and pretenses of Southern California without stereotyping. Much better than his more famous "The Horse Latitudes," Ferrigno has written a brisk and believable story that grabs your attention from the first page.