Play It Again [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephen Humphrey Bogart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

Leaving behind his life as a New York City matrimonial detective, R. J. Brooks is forced to confront the ghosts of his past when his beautiful and celebrated mother is murdered in a Manhattan love nest. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The name is for real: the son of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall debuts with an uninspired tale of New York PI R.J. Brooks, son of has-been movie star Belle Fontaine. The unsavory R.J. sleeps with his clients, wonders what he ever saw in his ex-wife and worries about his son from a distance. R.J. never got along with his famous parent, resenting her for being an absentee celebrity mom, but he nevertheless feels obliged to investigate when she and a man are found shot to death on a massage table in a pricey Manhattan hotel. Lt. Fred Kates, who is running the police probe, likes R.J. mainly as a suspect. Casey Wingate, who was making a film on Belle, however, is eager to join R.J. and pool information. Aided variously by his surrogate father, "Uncle Hank" Portillo (conveniently employed by the FBI), by Casey's recent film footage and sharp mind, by Belle's private diaries and by his own childhood memories, R.J. comes to see that the real object of the murderer's interest may still be alive. The plot may not be strong on logic but, then again, insanity figures powerfully in the resolution. Readers looking for a great Bogart work should stick to the big screen.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The hype surrounding Bogart's first novel is doubtless as much because of his famous name and parents (Bogey and Bacall) as because of the book's merits. Nevertheless, Bogart deserves credit for a fine first effort written in an appealing, Raymond Chandler^-like style and featuring tough-talking, down-on-his-luck gumshoe R. J. Hooker. After a lonely childhood spent in the shadow of his famous movie-star parents (roman a{ } clef, perhaps?), Hooker abandons the glamour of Hollywood for the chill of New York. Reduced to working as a "matrimonial detective," R. J. hasn't seen his glam-queen mother for months, but when she's murdered in cold blood, he uses street smarts, intuition, and his often nefarious contacts--in both Tinseltown and the Big Apple--to track down the killer. Slick dialogue, lots of glitz, and plenty of page-turning action don't quite overcome the book's tendency to sound like a facile TV cop drama, but given the still-potent Bogart legend, young Steve certainly has the inside track on success. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Forge (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812551621
• ISBN-13: 978-0812551624
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,158,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Affluent detective moans the truth about celebrity, April 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Play It Again (Mass Market Paperback)

Bogart's first novel about fame, fortune and the misery of being the child of celebrity parents is witty and colorful. The most interesting character is the female reporter that he warns himself not to fall in love with, she's a radical feminist and well, he's never had one of those before. R.J. Brooks and his secretary have a snappy yet somehow flat repartee that shows his true character: lazy, spoiled, self-indulgent and not concerned with the feelings of the people around him. Although the character is drawn from Stephen Bogart's own life and his parents' movies, the book moves slowly unless you know the artist and can hear him talking. I doubt Mr. Bogart has ever been to the opera, owned a red tabby cat or dated a feminist. I doubt that these were original ideas. I doubt that R.J. Brooks, as portrayed, would have figured-out the crime without more adventures. Sometimes it seems that Bogart was being paid by the word. The momentum builds in the final scene when the writer seems to slip away from some pre-programmed tape recording. He should stick with what he knows. I don't think he's a natural to write fiction, however, if he would like to share his own life glossed over as fiction, he'd do better intriguing us with that. He can be, in person, a natural wit and this is not evident in the character of R.J. Brooks. The you're gonna take it and you're gonna like it works well for him in person, yet needs stronger descriptions in the book to come alive.