The DVD Murders (The Frank Callahan Mystery Series) [Kindle Edition]

Bob Frey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I enjoyed The DVD Murders very much. As always...nothing is simple...the human condition is complex and multi-faceted. Bob Frey does an excellent job of portraying his gay protagonist and aspects of the gay lifestyle. The `gay' element of this mystery certainly gives the novel a unique twist, adds some humor and insight. You may not like all you learn from this novel, but at least you'll come away with a better understanding. Yes, I would recommend this book on many levels." --The Midwest Book Review

Review

By my way of thinking, this is the fourth book in the last few months that makes me want to say that the author should be writing on behalf of his characters to "Dear Abby" rather than writing a book.

When crying over a lost love dominates a fair share of the book, the mystery almost becomes -- "where is the mystery?" Nevertheless, Frey does a good job of creating interesting characters, and has an Oscar-winning car chase . . .

Gay detective Frank Callahan is handsome, gutsy and has a wry sense of the scene around him. He and partner Barry have a good working relationship but a thorn in both their sides is a gay-bashing, uncouth fellow detective, Moose Koehler, who is the embodiment of a trash mouth, whether verbally bashing gays or ogling and crudely commenting om female detectives'attributes. You can't wait for him to get his comeuppance.

Callahan is lead detective on a case that begins with an A-list actor being killed and a defaced DVD left beside the body. Theories abound and the case doesn't progress that far before an A-list actress is similarly murdered. Eventually a letter arrives announcing the killer is out to stop Hollywood's agenda of depravity.

A disgruntled agent who has taken a powder becomes the focus of their investigation, but the murderer sends another letter to the news outlet, this time decrying America's degeneration in general and demanding to have his/her manifesto published in the newspaper.

There are some interesting setups . . . I couldn't decide if Mr. Frey's picking his charater and plot line was to show us that in most ways gays are no different from the rest of us, or if he simply made a choice to have a gay hero.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 399 KB
• Publisher: Infinity Publishing (January 15, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002DPUJPQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,715 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Bob was born and raised in a blue-collar neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A street kid, he spent several summers on his own with his good friend, Jimmy Malloy, in beach towns in New Jersey where they worked as dishwashers and countermen, panhandled the boardwalk, and slept in the Caterpillar, an amusement park ride, in between jobs.
On graduation from high school where he played football, Bob again took off with a couple of friends, one a gigolo, and the other a pool hustler, and bummed around for a couple of years in New York City and New Jersey Beach resorts. He returned to Philadelphia and worked for a spell in a shipyard before he joined the U.S. Navy in order to avoid the draft.
In the navy, he was trained to be an electronics technician and one of his jobs was flight deck troubleshooter for a fighter squadron on the U. S. Midway. Always a rebel, he was court marshaled for direct disobedience of orders while on the Midway, busted to the rank of airman, and given fourteen days hard labor. He did get to see a lot of Europe, however, as well as Cuba and Haiti. and was honorably discharged.
After military service, hoping to become an actor, Bob was accepted into the Drama Department of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on the G.I. Bill of Rights. He was kicked out for being a bad one, however, after his sophomore year. Nevertheless, he did fall in love while there and was married shortly after. He finished his schooling by attending classes at Columbia University in New York City during the day and loading trucks by night to support himself and his family and graduated with a B.A. in Creative Writing.
Using the knowledge of electronics he had learned in the navy, Bob's first writing job was turning out technical manuals for electronic equipment. From there, he parlayed this experience to become a promotional writer for a medical company in Columbus, Ohio, and eventually a copywriter for a couple of advertising agencies in Los Angeles and received several awards for his creative work.
While in L.A., Bob returned to his first love, acting, as a side career and was good enough to appear in more than forty independent films and stage plays. His favorite roles were heavies, such as mafia hit men, eccentrics, serial killers, and other edgy characters. He originated the role of Daddy, a flippant ghost, in the stage comedy, Hazing the Monkey. Bob is now retired and lives in the great Northwest with his wife, Susan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent action thriller, April 29, 2009

By 

H. O. Fattorini (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The DVD Murders (Paperback)

Relentless action, believable characters,
atmospheric descriptions of many Los Angeles
sites and characters. Raunchy and hilarious at times
(as in the episode in the gay bathhouse).
Lots of classic movie references.

Unlike many other mysteries, the ending doesn't let
you down.

A good read, well worth the price.