Customer Reviews

The Jazz Bird

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

 

 

This is the first work by Craig Holden that I have read; it most certainly will not be the last. I am not familiar enough with the historical basis for this book, so I comment purely as a reader. "The Jazz Bird", is a wicked book, from a large cast of characters whose loyalty cannot be placed until the book's end, an immense fortune built by prohibition, and the co-star of the book Imogene.

Imogene is one of the better female players that I have read in quite some time. If the character in the book bears any resemblance to who this woman truly was, there must be additional books written already, or more will certainly follow.

The author reconstructs the 1920's with great detail, right down to noting the Rag Time Piano Music of Scott Joplin. If you recall the music, you may also remember the movie that brought it back when Paul Newman and Robert Redford gave classic performances in, "The Sting". This work is much darker than the movie I reference, but if the time period appeals to you, the book will as well. Prohibition parties where 100-dollar bills were under the plate of each guest, or perhaps dozens of new cars awaited the guests who stayed the night as gifts. Add to all of this Imogene, daughter of the privileged class who marries the largest rumrunner, systematically destroys all she was brought up to be a part of, and does it with either the greatest calculation, or the most grievous unintended consequence.

The book is a classic roaring 20's tragedy that you know is going to happen but Craig Holden brings you there through a series of brilliant characters, and the most circuitous of routes.

With his sheer assurance as a storyteller, Mr. Holden has taken on the daunting task of recreating the provocative era of the 1920s. He not only recreates the era, but the real life story of one of the most dramatic and complex love affairs in American history. The author has conveyed an aura of authenticity with his rich character development. I was deeply drawn to the love affair between a gangster, George Remus, and a woman of high society, Imogene Ring. Charlie Taft's obsessive interest in a dead woman adds a wry, atypical twist to the standard love triangle theme. The story illustrates the delicacy, the violence, and the destruction of love. There is a fascinating duality of permissiveness counterpoised with conventionality interwoven into a rich tale filled with obsessive love, organized crime, politics, motives, insanity, and betrayal. This story of passion and obsession is lit by the bright light of humanity and history. I could not put this book down. Highly recommended for those who love writing that far exceeds the ordinary.

THE JAZZ BIRD, based on a true story, but admittedly fictionalized to add dramatic voice, is a stunning example of good characterization if nothing else. Holden brings us realistic, tragic, and multi-layered characters in the story of a murder trial in which we know the defendant is guilty. But the background is complex and nothing is quite as it seems. At times Holden's plotting does get a little muddled, but by the end of the novel, you get a better understanding of George Remus and why he killed his enigmatic wife, Imogene. While the jumping around at times defuses the courtroom suspense, I was surprised by its ending, and the novel itself ends on a note that is not easily accepted.
Good, crisp writing, should enhance Holden's growing reputation.

THE JAZZ BIRD is a real page-turner. Holden skillfully brought me back into the 20s time period with his realistic portrayal of life as George Remus would've lived it. A tragic love story and a fascinating insight into bootlegging.

The critics at Mysterious Bookshop love Craig Holden and I am still trying to figure out why. As in 'Four Corners of the Night' there is a big plot twist at the end. However, in both cases we are forced to believe that other characters in the book would not notice the proverbial 'elephant in the room' which ruins the twist for several weeks if not months.

Make no mistake, Holden is a fine writer and is especially good with his wording and with well drawn images. However, his plot twists defy belief. In this case, it mars an excellent set of courtroom scenes, as well as a 'you are there' tour of Cincinnati in the 1920's.

I'm swearing off Craig Holden. He's not a bad writer, but he hinges his books on plot twists which stretch my credulity too far.

The history and characters that went into The Jazz Bird were certainly deeper and well drawn. However, it was not nearly as entertaining as some of Holden's other novels, especially The Narcissist's Daughter. While the latter was a page-turner, I found myself somewhat bored by The Jazz Bird. The characters and story were more involved, but not nearly as interesting, and the timeline was confusing.

Jazz Bird takes place in the 1920's in the midst of the prohibition. The story starts of with the murder of Imogene Remus, the wife of a convicted bootlegger. Her husband, George Remus, confesses as the killer but he seems like an unlikely suspect as he's always been deeply in love with his wife...

During the trial their story unfolds a twisted and complex tale of betrayel and manipulation...until the end when you find out the truth about what happened to their relationship and the day of Imogene's murder.

The characters are colorful enough to keep you reading but the ending goes no where. Entertaining but not dazzling. I give this one 3 stars...

Fascinating! I never heard of George Remus the bootlegging king of Cincinnati who made millions in the mid-twenties when he was as big as Al Capone. Though Fitzgerald denied it, many believe Remus was the model for Gatsby. Remus' wife Imogene was not the young socialite Holden portrays but a 35-year-old secretary who dumped her first husband for him. History says she teamed up with "Untouchable" Frank Dodge, and the two of them siphoned off his fortune while George was doing time.

The murder, how Charlie Taft handled the trial and the result are said to be spot on, though Holden creates his own details and the characters are more of his mold than history's. Because Imogene is unabashedly like Daisy Buchannan the story feels more like a knock off of Fitzgerald than biographical fiction.

George kills Imogene in "rush hour" (was there such a thing in 1927?) and takes a cab to the police station. After one night in a cold cell he's treated to VIP digs by the sheriff who tells George his two boys went to college on money from his business. He will defend himself telling the press he's not crazy but all the while acting like he is. His co-counsel Elston first gets George's chauffeur Babe to recount the statement that the prosecution beat out of him, then parades a bunch of people who describe how both Imogene and Dodge were driving George to his erratic behavior.

Holden's version is that Imogene only hooked up with Dodge to benefit Remus, but that story line is off base. It might have worked in a different kind of novel, but it creates an unpalatable smorgasbord in this one.

I gave it 4 stars because it was woth listening to (I did the audio tape version), but using a real life event to prop up an outrageous story line offended me, particularly when Imogene and her "love story" were bogus given the facts that are known about the murder.

I have spent the last 3 months reading 4 dozen various mysteries and I have enjoyed every single one of them--until now. I found this book terribly confusing with the story jumping around between past and present and the assortment of characters. I thought that the character of Charlie Taft was very undeveloped and that he should develop a "passion" for the dead Imogene rather laughable. I could not understand why people had such sympathy for George Remus and was disappointed by the ending. Any book that I start, I force myself to finish. Many times I'm surprised halfway through. But I now wish I had bailed out on this book after a couple of chapters. It wasn't worth the time. I read in Holden's notes that he had two editors for this book. Perhaps that was a big part of the problem. This will certainly be my first and last Holden.

The Jazz Bird makes a valiant effort to recreate the era of Prohibition and a number of the actual players in the game of bootlegging and government at the time. The book sinks, however, under the weight of too many shifting focuses and the contrivance of using diary entries to offer insight into the mind of the Jazz Bird herself, murder victim Imogene Remus. The author does do a fine job with George Remus, offering great and viable insight into the mind of a man so love-stricken that he kills the one he most loves. The character of Charlie Taft is thin, and the man never entirely comes to life, and so it's hard to have any sympathy for him--if that was the author's intent. It's hard to say, actually, where our sympathies are intended to lie.

There are scenes, moments, when the book leaps to life (Imogene sitting alone at a jazz club, listening, drinking, inhaling the intoxicating rhythm of a gifted drummer; young George attempting to swim in frigid waters and realizing he's going to drown), then the narrative subsides and we're moved to another viewpoint, another character, another scene.

The historical information is seamlessly blended into the narrative and the author must be given big points for that. Sadly, the reader cannot love Imogene as so many of the men in this book did. She is alternately needy and ruthless, compliant and rash. She is made out to be a composite of so many qualities that in the end it's hard to have any clear image of her. And since she is at the heart of this tale, The Jazz Bird falters as a result.

Unlike the exquisite The River Sorrow, this book does not show Holden at his best. And that is a pity, because he is a thoughtful and gifted writer whose previous efforts bear that out.