Kill Story (Tom Bethany) [Paperback]

Jerome Doolittle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000 | Series: Tom Bethany

Tom Bethany vs. a millionaire newspaper publisher in Cambridge.

"Outrageous story outrageously well-told by one of the best writers of deadpan humor in the mystery business."

—Portland Oregonian.

"A Travis McGee for the 90s"

—Publishers Weekly

"Ranks with Robert Parker, Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain and Ross Thomas"

—Charles Champlin, Los Angeles times

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sex, money and power make headlines in the sixth Tom Bethany caper (after Body Scissors) as Tom-expert wrestler, 1980 Carter campaign worker and latter-day technological Robin Hood-sees the sleazier side of the newspaper business. He's recruited into a scheme to reacquire the Cambridge (Mass.) Daily Banner, which has fallen into the hands of wealthy Thurman Boucher. Not long after Boucher, aka "the Cobra," acquires the paper, its previous owner, Linda Cushing, is found dead, an apparent suicide. But both Linda's daughter and her old friend Felicia Lamport, who's also Tom's old pal, think Boucher is responsible for the death. Through a neat combination of luck, brawn and guile, Tom signs on as Boucher's security consultant, chauffeur and wrestling coach, from which position he sets about initiating dirty tricks galore in hopes of souring Boucher on his latest acquisition. Events heat up to an explosive climax after Tom is ordered to murder the Banner's fired managing editor. Doolittle gives his colorful characters plenty of snappy dialogue, and Tom is as funny and sardonic a narrator as mystery readers are likely to find. British, translation, first serial, film and TV rights: ICM.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Scientific American

Doolittle, who has been a Carter speech writer and once ran a cafe in Vientiane, Laos, ranks with Robert Parker, Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain and Ross Thomas as a high-voltage storyteller, and that is exalted company. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Backinprint.Com (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059514599X
• ISBN-13: 978-0595145997
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,207,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

What a man was passionate about at the age of 12 is probably what he should make his life's work. I was chasing frogs and snakes and other small animals in the outdoors, but at the same time I was addicted to reading and wound up making the wrong choice.

I became a reporter, columnist and editor for the old Washington Daily News and for the Washington Post. Following that I free-lanced for the Saturday Evening Post, Sports Illustrated, Holiday, the Nation, Penthouse, Oui, Esquire, and the Readers Digest.

In 1966 I joined the U.S. Information Agency, serving in Casablanca before becoming press attache in our Laos embassy during the war. I resigned over there and went back to free-lance reporting, in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

On returning to the United States in 1972, I wrote two volumes of the Time-Life Books wilderness series. In 1976 I joined the Carter campaign, ending up as a White House speechwriter and later chief of public affairs for the Federal Aviation Administration.

When Reagan fired us all, I wrote my first novel, "The Bombing Officer," and spent five years teaching writing at Harvard. There I began the Tom Bethany mystery series, which I may yet revive.

I recent years I've been blogging at http://badattitudes.com/MT/ on politics, culture, and whatever else catches my interest. And lately, having at last become old enough to figure out what actually matters, I have been running around in the woods again. This is in pursuit of a book on the community of herpetology -- humans and reptiles both -- in the United States.

Ideas, leads, anecdotes, suggestions, and pictures are all welcome and may be sent to my gmail account. To the left of the ampersand, type: jerome.doolittle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detective Tom Bethany Knows What To Do!, June 22, 1999

By 

D. Johnson (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kill Story (Paperback)

This was the first novel I read in the Tom Bethany series and I must say that I'm gald it was the first! After reading this book, I was on a mission to find and read every Tom Bethany mystery I can! And so far, I've found and read almost all of them. Jerome Doolittle does an excellent job in creating and developing characteers and plots, keeping the reader totally interested and aware of what's going on at all times. He's so descriptive in his writing style that it feels like you're right there in every scene with the coolest detective around, Tom Bethany! I particularly love the fighting and interrogation sessions of Tom Bethany's "victims". In this novel they are VERY entertaining. Doolitle's dialogue between characters is easy and smooth, like in a movie! You know who's talking and what kind of tone they're using. Truly excellent. The writing is pleasant, fun and easy to read. Doolittle doesn't bog you down with a lot of unecessary information. He definitely creates chratceters you either love to hate or love to love! If you want to be entertained by a mystery with a good plot and great characters, that keeps you wanting more, Kill Story is the way to go. Or any other Tom Bethany mystery for that matter! The Tom Bethany Mystery series are definitely ones to look for when you're in your favorite book store. I totally reccomend Kill Story for your reading pleasure.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dateline Deadline, May 28, 2001

By 

"mrsfaganselves" (huntington, ny United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kill Story (Tom Bethany) (Paperback)

The wry, likable Tom Bethany, a bit of a mystery man himself, sets out to find out whether an unscrupulous newspaper owner is responsible for the death of the paper's former owner and along the way, deliver justice to the bad guys.

There may be more information about the newspaper industry and the issue of chain ownership than some may like, but even if you don't care that your local paper might be owned by a bloodless corporation 3,000 miles away, you can appreciate Bethany's methods, self-deprecating style, and the author's very smooth delivery of a good story. The entire story has a ring of truth, populated by far too many less than scrupulous people trying to scrape by in life. Author Jerome Doolittle delivers a great deal of amusing comment on politics and contemporary culture, though you may like it a bit more if you're a Democrat than a Republican. Everyone, though, who has suffered through watching the wrong people advance in the corporate culture should appreciate this sentence, offered in a side riff about office politics and the military: "You can learn a lot about what's wrong with the world by watching how the scum beats the cream to the top."

Doolittle brings a fascinating series of careers that feed the colorful detailsof his novels: speechwriter for Jimmy Carter, war correspondent, café owner in Laos. Kill story is the sixth in the Tom Bethany series. Read him for whatever reasons, but read him for a wonderfully good time and yet another twist on the standard private investigator story.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ode to Jerome:, July 16, 2001

By 

Bridget Hockney (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kill Story (Tom Bethany) (Paperback)

Dear Jerome,

Don't mean for this rhyme to be shoddy

You certainly might find it oddy

You made my whole year

When what should appear

That wonderful book Scissors, Body.

Your writing skills I have been sold

My boasting your talents gets old

I tell all my friends,

Their ears I must bend

Some threaten me with Strangle Holds!

But still I remain cool and smug

Your books I continue to plug

You are funny and gallant

You have all the right talent

You deserve a humongous Bear Hug.

Your publishers should take great stock

"Out of Print"!--Your fans are in shock!

Are their heads filled with lumber?

We want rank, files and number

We'll put all of them in Head Lock(s)

Your fans need to know who to sway

We want to get into the fray

Although we don't wrestle

There must be some vessel

To teach us the Half Nelson Soiree

I really don't want to get gory

But I've called Montel, Phil and Maury

The stifling of writers

Has made fans turn fighters

There should be no way to Kill Story(ies).

Bombing Officer should be on top

You have written not one single flop

I hope you did guess

I wish you success

Just promise that you'll never stop.