An Infinite Number of Monkeys [Hardcover]

Les Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1987

Late night phone calls are never good news, and hearing his secretary's scared voice on the line, Saxon figured he was in for a case with too many favors and no hard cash. But the L.A. actor-turned sleuth was only half right, because whoever took a shot at his secretary's husband was really aiming for big bucks - that is, Buck Weldon, one of America's wealthiest mystery writers, whose enemy list was longer than some of his stories.

And keeping the bullets away from Buck permanently would have Saxon heading right into Southern California's dark side of drugs and violence- with a blonde in his arms, a gun in his belt, and a killer in his sights.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A movie actor and moonlighting private eye called Saxon is the narrator of Roberts's debut. Machismo, sex, racy dialogueall the trappingsdefine the thriller but do not a Sam Spade make. Saxon moves around Los Angeles and its environs when beautiful Tori Weldon hires him to protect her father, author Buck Weldon. A millionaire on earnings from crime fiction he calls trash, Weldon has also created enmity; someone wants to kills him. The detective questions an embezzling movie producer, prototype for a Weldon work-in-progress; his former son-in-law, whom he beat severely for battering Tori; the publisher who stole Weldon's royalties; and others. During the investigation, the writer's lover dies instantly from poisoned cocaine that she snuffs before he does, the latest failed attempt to murder him. One of the novel's weaknesses is that the police take no steps against Weldon in the case, although he and the woman were alone in his house. Another is Saxon's failure to pick up the flaming clue in the early chapters.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A DEFINITE WINNER... One of those books that you know you're going to love after reading the first paragraph..." -- Scripps Howard News Service

"Brisk Dialogue, lean action, varied L.A. backgrounds... A promising debut." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Sizzles with tension... inventive and suspense filled." -- Booklist --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 165 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (July 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312006101
• ISBN-13: 978-0312006105
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,255,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Les Roberts is the author of 15 mystery novels featuring Cleveland detective Milan Jacovich, as well as 9 other books of fiction. The past president of both the Private Eye Writers of America and the American Crime Writer's League, he came to mystery writing after a 24-year career in Hollywood. He was the first producer and head writer of the Hollywood Squares and wrote for the Andy Griffith Show, the Jackie Gleason Show, and the Man from U.N.C.L.E., among others. He has been a professional actor, a singer, a jazz musician, and a teacher. In 2003 he received the Sherwood Anderson Literary Award. A native of Chicago, he now lives in Northeast Ohio and is a film and literary critic.

Visit his web site at www.lesroberts.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Introducing Saxon, July 8, 2001

By 

Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Infinite Number of Monkeys (Hardcover)

This is Les Roberts' first book, introducing us to Saxon, a private investigator who is also an actor. His secretary calls him one night after her husband has been shot at outside the home of renowned author Buck Weldon. Saxon agrees to look into it and it becomes apparent that the target of the attack was most likely Buck Weldon himself. It wasn't the first attempt on his life, which prompts Saxon to investigate further. Also prompting him to investigate further is Buck's beautiful daughter, for whom Saxon has fallen utterly and hopelessly in love.

This book is somewhat reminiscent of the Elvis Cole books by Robert Crais, although Saxon is not quite as pithy in his dealings with clients, nor as cool. The story moves at a good pace, but it contained no real surprises. Those that were meant to be earth-shattering revelations were telegraphed and I easily figured them out long before they happened. All in all this is a quite enjoyable book, yet didn't contain anything that made it stand out from the many other private investigator books out there.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Author Pays Dearly for Secret Satisfaction, January 3, 2010

By 

John C. Legg (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Infinite Number of Monkeys (Paperback)

Buck Weldon. Jack Kale. Buck is money, jack is money, kale and cabbage, cabbage means money, of course; mystery solved! How could I have missed it? Perhaps I had too high hopes for this novel, for once I learned that Les Roberts was a member of the second Pink Tea, I have wanted to read and study all his novels. And once I discovered the title of Les's first novel which also appeared in the prose of two other novels I'm keenly interested in, all three novels published in 1987, a team of wild horses couldn't have held me back from reading "An Infinite Number of Monkeys." I agree with the first Amazon reviewer, however, the novel didn't separate itself enough from the pack of other hardboiled detective novels to make itself memorable. As the plot unfolded, I lost some steam, probably from reading the book's reviews/dust jacket cover blurbs before hand that revealed too much about what was going to happen. I gained steam near the end of the novel, however, because I didn't know who the killer was. (I guessed the secret, but couldn't connect the secret with who would kill over it and why.) I will definitely read some more Les Roberts, probably his Cleveland based novels since they garner excellent reviews.