A Hard Day's Death (Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hit) [Mass Market Paperback]

Raymond Benson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hit | Publication Date: April 2008

“A frantic dash through the world of rock and roll. Thrills
a-plenty and backstage passes to the magical mystery musical
twilight zone.”
--Ian Anderson of JETHRO TULL

“A sizzling story full of classic thriller twists, humor, and a
dead-on look at the music business.”
--Jeffery Deaver, author of THE SLEEPING DOLL

From Raymond Benson, author of sixteen novels, including
six James Bond 007 novels, comes this original mystery/thriller
set in the world of rock ‘n’ roll.

Rock star Peter Flame is found dead. It looked like he hanged
himself, but the coroner ruled it a homicide. Now it’s up to Spike
Berenger and Rockin’ Security to find out who killed Flame… and
why. Was it his ex-wife? A former bandmate? A religious cult
that had become Flame’s groupies? A member of one of the
mysterious rock ‘n’ roll gangs terrorizing New York? Only a music
insider like Spike can hope to wade through the rumors and the
legends and find the cold hard facts… and a cold-blooded killer.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 309 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books; First Ediition/First Printing edition (April 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843960639
• ISBN-13: 978-0843960631
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,187,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As of January 2011, Raymond Benson is the author of twenty-four published books. These include six original JAMES BOND novels (now collected in the recent anthologies THE UNION TRILOGY and CHOICE OF WEAPONS), three 007 film novelizations, and the first two TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL novels (for the latter he used the pseudonym of "David Michaels"). With John Milius he penned HOMEFRONT: THE VOICE OF FREEDOM. He also wrote the novelizations of the popular videogames--METAL GEAR SOLID and METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY. Raymond writes his own original suspense books as well--stand alone thrillers such as TORMENT, ARTIFACT OF EVIL, SWEETIE'S DIAMONDS, FACE BLIND, and EVIL HOURS, or his two "Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hits" featuring a music industry detective--A HARD DAY'S DEATH and DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE. Coming soon--Raymond's entry in the "Gabriel Hunt" adventures, HUNT THROUGH NAPOLEON'S WEB, and an original thriller, THE BLACK STILETTO. There's a lot more, so if you want the full story visit the author at his website... www.raymondbenson.com!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get your music-and-mystery fix here!, July 24, 2011

By 

Clytie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Hard Day's Death (Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hits) (Kindle Edition)

In this second Spike Berenger book, Benson continues the mix of intriguing mystery, dark secrets and rich personal view which I enjoyed so much in the first (Dark Side of the Morgue). As a music lover, I relish the songs mentioned, the history of artists who enter the story and the real, personal descriptions of how music affects you. As someone who enjoys a good mystery, I find myself pulled along in a story which incriminates practically everyone without giving even the most experienced mystery-reader enough hints to guess whodunnit, and more importantly, why.

When a rock star dies, all the usual speculation runs rife: was it love, jealousy, greed, drugs or mental illness? Who are the vultures clustering around his corpse? Where does the kooky cult fit in? What are people not telling Spike while hiding behind a mask of goodwill or grief?

Throughout this story, as in the first book and the accompanying short story, music runs like water. There are trickles of memory, warm pools of enjoyment, and sudden waves of both excitement and fear when witnessing the performances of the underground gang bands. The music is alive, as always.

If you love music or mystery, you'll enjoy this. If you love both, grab it now! :)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun and fast-paced read....excellent!, May 9, 2008

By 

Judith B. Boyter "Judy Boyter" (Spring, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Hard Day's Death (Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hit) (Mass Market Paperback)

I always enjoy any book by Raymond Benson, including his James Bond books. This is a great suspense/murder mystery with a twist of the rock music industry as the background. It's fun to read the chapter titles as song titles and to find various famous rock artists making cameo appearances throughout the story. Have fun....I'm looking forward to the next in this series!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-developed characters, May 2, 2008

By 

Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Hard Day's Death (Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hit) (Mass Market Paperback)

A highly enjoyable mystery with well-developed characters. The author is good at creating believable characters as if all these people existed. He describes the main characters' past and private lives, giving a depth not only to people but to the story. If you like detective stories, you will most likely love this investigator and his team. It is also noteworthy that the author successfully avoids story development which would have made me say, "That's too convenient," "Too good even in fiction" or "This is just to move the story ahead." Things stay closer to reality than to fiction: not everything goes well for the good guys; the investigator is not entirely in good shape; and the good guys are shot more often than they dodge bullets. Rock 'n' roll fans would enjoy various references to the music scene, which is actually a unique feature of this novel. Overall, the story is well worth reading, and I'm looking forward to the second story.