Customer Reviews

A Hard Day's Death (Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hit)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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! :)

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!!

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.

I may be a bit biased here, because I wanted to be a private investigator when I was a little kid and I play bass guitar in a band currently, however, I think anyone who is a fan of a good action/thriller will enjoy this book. It is a very cool take on the genre, it is original and creative. I do not like to give away much of anything in a book review, you can read the description of the novel on this site! I am just here to tell you that if you purchase this book you will have a great trip through the pages! As an added bonus if you are a music fan there is a lot of extra content that you will enjoy, if not, pay attention you will be introduced to some great artists and some great songs! This was the first book I have read by Benson and I am hooked. I ordered one of his Bond books because I am a huge Bond fan as well, and I can not wait to read it!

Raymond Benson, the noted author behind numerous James Bond novels, scores again with a brand-new concept. Benson has combined his encyclopedic knowledge of rock & roll with his proven ability to create a thrilling mystery in "A Hard Day's Death". This is an extremely enjoyable and entertaining novel with vivid characters and numerous cameos by real-life rock stars. Music fans will enjoy the frequent references to bands and albums while trying to solve the puzzle of a murder disguised to look like suicide. This is the first in Benson's new series featuring private investigator/former tour manager Spike Berenger and his team at Rockin' Security. Loads of fun!

"A Hard Day's Death," takes you on a thrilling adventure. The main character, Spike Berenger is the owner of Rockin' Security. Spike got his formal investigation training while he was a criminal investigations special agent in the military. Needless to say, he is used to excitement and adventure. Things really heat up for Spike when he agrees to take on a case involving the death of a middle aged rocker and cult member named Flame. Unfortunately, the main suspect is the victim's estranged son. It is up to Spike to discover who really killed him. The list of possibilities is extensive and as Spike gets closer to the truth, his own life and the lives of those around him become endangered.
Raymond Benson has also penned James Bond adventures. Spike Berenger's character is the antithesis of James Bond in the sense that he relies on his muscle and his gun to be a hero. There are no fancy, high tech gadgets, and he doesn't wear a tuxedo. He seems more gritty and real. The author certainly demonstrates his creative talent in "A Hard Day's Death." He provides the reader with hours of entertainment. He has gifts for developing a compelling plot, creating unique characters and describing his scenes in vivid detail. Benson's incorporation of humor into the tale is the icing on the cake.
I also have to admit enjoying his inclusion of many of my favorite musicians. As a person who grew up watching MTV when they still had music videos, it was refreshing to step into the world of musician's whose heydays were in the 70's through possibly the 90's. If you appreciate a good mystery, with a lot of action, you will love "A Hard Day's Death." It will also make a great gift for fans of good old rock n roll. I highly recommend this book!

This book is a thrilling murder mystery set in a fictional rock and roll setting with a host of exciting and mysterious characters, including David Bowie. Spike Berenger is a tough as nails, rock and roll loving PI that puts in a hard day until the job is done. A great thriller and must read for rock and roll fans of all ages. Without a doubt, Benson knows rock and knows how to weave an intense thriller into the fabric of a rock and roll atmosphere.

Peter Flame was once one of the greatest of the rock stars, but age, a bout with drugs and a conversion to Christianity have taken a toll. During his last stint in drug rehab, Flame became involved with a church called "The Messengers" and he now largely plays songs with Christian themes. This has turned off his prime audiences that are fans of rock with a hard edge. Attendance is down and the crowd only seems to come alive when Flame's group plays songs from the pre-Christian days.
After a fairly mediocre concert, Flame's manager goes to his residence and finds him hanging from the ceiling. It takes very little time before it is determined that he was murdered and it was amateurishly arranged to look like a suicide. Since Flame's estranged son Adrian was seen fleeing from the site of the murder, he is immediately arrested. At this point, Rockin' Security is called in to investigate in the hope that some evidence can be uncovered that will vindicate Adrian. Spike Berenger is one of the owners of the company, is the lead investigator and has long-standing ties to many of the principals in the case.
The situation is further complicated by the presence of the Jimmys and the Cuzzins, two outlaw bands who perform impromptu concerts that lead to riots and destruction. Both groups are in the rock scene and at least provide plausible foils in the search for Flame's killer. As he investigates, Spike is taken down several memory lanes, including having to work with some people he was formerly romantically involved with. Spike also discovers that "The Messengers" has more in common with a cult than an established church.
The writing here is crisp and engaging, even though there are weaknesses in the plot, the most significant of which is that none of the bad guys seem to be able to shoot with any accuracy. And even when they do, the wounds never seem to be fatal, no professional killer would fire two bullets into a person at point-blank range and not kill them. However, that weakness aside, this is a sound murder mystery, the plot unravels at a pace that keeps you thinking and while there are hints concerning the guilty, they remain hidden to the extent that it is not obvious until the end.

We've all seen movies based on classic rock songs, but as far as I know, this is the first book with a soundtrack. A great contemporary murder mystery with a bit of nostalgia for the old PI stories as well as good music. With all the references to tunes and CDs, there is not a single reference to MP3, iPod, or music downloads. Another plus!

I found it difficult to slog through this book. It starts out well as a famous rock star (Peter Flame) is found mysteriously hanged in what appears to be a suicide. The police then conclude he was actually murdered and blame his estranged son. This was about 50 pages into the book. From there on I lost the storyline and found myself re-reading parts to remember what was going on. The author names his chapters by famous song titles and I thought maybe what would happen in the chapter would could be summed up in the song title but could find very little correlation. I gave up with this book after little more than 120 pages and I usually read a book to the end whether I like it or not.