Landmark Status (Paperback)

by Alan H. Rolnick (Author)
Key Phrases: trial bag, injunction motion, historic designation, Century Club, Dee Ray, Chuck Steinberg (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Landmark Status careens madly through a subtropical tangle of legal action, spirits, spells, kung fu, car wrecks, football, phobias, fetishes, wooden flutes, pet rabbits and vintage aircraft, while the fate of Miami's famed Century Club hangs in the balance. Once a notorious nightspot, the Club just awoke from decades of slumbering decay--thanks to a local building boom. Now everybody's scrambling to bury it under a fabulous high-rise.

Lawyer Benjy Bluestone couldn't care less, but a client owns the Club and seeks his help. It gets easier to say yes when he learns that beautiful broker Delia Torres is involved, even though she represents a developer who's furious to find the Club's been optioned to a rival. Benjy and Delia soon discover her client will stop at nothing to turn that option into "something so ugly the tide won't take it out." Racing the clock, they join forces on the road to Opa-locka, where a violent confrontation threatens to blow the deal sky high.

"Move over, Carl Hiaasen! This brilliantly funny romp through the `real' Miami will have you howling with laughter and booking your trip to South Beach. You're gonna love it!" --Michael Levin, author of Soft Target

About the Author
Alan H. Rolnick grew up in a sleepy river town playing baseball and Beatles songs, wishing he lived someplace different. Twenty years of law practice in Miami, whose heart-stopping beauty and self-absorbed chaos challenged him daily to figure out where on earth he was, left no doubt he’d gotten his wish.

Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (August 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595427162
• ISBN-13: 978-0595427161
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,887,719 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The morphing of the Century Club, November 12, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Landmark Status (Hardcover)

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (11/07)

Walter Marsh, owner of the historic and legendary Century Club found himself in a dilemma. His deposit from an out-of-state investor's group on their option for the club property was nearly all spent. The option was ready to expire. Business was at its lowest ebb. A major convention center complex was in the planning stages. Local political forces were in a battle for control and needed Walter's property.

Rolnick has fully developed a cast of colorful characters to keep a fast-paced plot moving forward. Walter Marsh calls on lawyer Benjy Bluestone for advice. Smart and stunning, Delia Torres represents a local developer.

Add a few high rollers in Miami real estate and political circles, a mentally-challenged bodyguard chauffer, a novice newspaper reporter, a Bahamian-American politician, and a Cuban cigar importer, and you get the idea of the complex direction and zany antics that follow. Greed, political power, legal maneuvers, and romantic trysts are interwoven into an engrossing plot that replicates the TV series "Miami Vice," with an on going comedic, satire and tongue in cheek humor.

The setting is Miami with Ponzi schemes; investment fraud and real estate deals draw people from the Midwest, the Northeast, and the state of Texas to get into the action and to own their bit of Florida's paradise. The plot is powered by quick-witted dialog which reveal the character of the protagonist. Benjy is laid back, with a basic inner sense of doing the right thing. He is loyal and stubborn in addition to laid back but has a fear of failing by following in his father's footsteps.

Alan Rolnick is a practicing attorney, influenced and motivated by the writing of Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, and Dave Barry. Alan feels that the legal profession produces natural storytellers, and felt compelled to write a novel. "Landmark Status" is the result.

Alan's writing is entertaining, and witty. Transitions flow naturally, his characters are easily recognizable and memorable. I was pleasantly surprised at the insight I gained into the land development and real estate industry in South Florida. Another aspect I enjoyed was a glimpse into the historical origins of Miami, and the ethnic influence in the politics of Miami.

I was hooked from the opening wrecking ball to the final explosion.

I am sure that in the near future, attorney Alan H. Rolnick, will be reviewing contracts for the movie rights to "Landmark Status" and will be moving on to write a series of stories based on the legal shenanigans of lawyer Benjy Bluestone. I am looking forward to the sequel.