Straits of Fortune [Hardcover]

Anthony Gagliano (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co (2007)
• ASIN: B002CKDHGU
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sultry scenes combine to make this an enjoyable read!, June 5, 2007

By 

Tenngirl101 "Sandy B" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straits of Fortune

A compelling and well written story of an ex-cop turned personal trainer (due to a set of circumstances beyond his control). Jack Vaughn is a man that most of us ordinary people can relate to. As he struggles to survive in the hot bed of deception called Miami Beach; he finds himself drawn into a treacherous plot by the very people he thought he could trust (almost). Mystery, intrigue, and sultry scenes combine to make this a very enjoyable read and hopefully will be a start to a new series. I can't wait to hear more about Jack Vaughn's exploits!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could be the start of a GREAT new series, May 27, 2007

By 

J.M. (Noirtown, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straits of Fortune

A thoroughly enjoyable novel, and hopefully the first of many to feature Miami Beach ex-cop/personal trainer/unwilling detective Jack Vaughn. Gagliano has obviously learned from the best, and there will be obvious comparisons to Raymond Chandler, but there's a lot of Ross Macdonald here, too (no insult there -- Macdonald, to me, is one of the most underappreciated practitioners of the genre).

Definitely derivative of those who've come before (and what mystery series isn't?), but with many of its own original touches -- a quick, but satisfying read. Count me in for the next entry in the Jack Vaughn series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good First Book!, March 26, 2008

By 

Michael A. Newman (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Straits of Fortune

This is the first book by a new author who has an interesting first person way of writing. He writes in first person using the character Jack Vaughn, an ex-cop now a personal trainer living in Florida. Jack sometimes does some unusual sidework and is asked to sink a yacht by a former client, nicknamed the Colonel. There is a catch in that the yacht also contains a dead body of an ex-friend of Jack's, whom Jack's former lover (Vivian) apparently killed and the Colonel wants all the evidence to go away. The Colonel tells Jack that he wants nothing to be tied back to him or his daughter and nobody would ever tie Jack to what happened. For Jack's trouble he will get 100 thousand.

Jack agrees to do the dirty work but immediately suspects something more is afoot when he is acosted by Williams, the Colonel's "Nazi-type" bodyguard. When Jack does the deed he finds out that there is a lot more on the yacht than the Colonel led him to believe and then Jack is hunted by the crazed Williams and has the police after him too. The book moves fairly quick and you are at the end before you know it.

I liked the book and it was a good first effort. Why I didn't give it the full five stars are because:

- It seems a few times like the author tells the story assuming the reader already know things but then later realizes that he left out some things and then throws them in.
- Too many things happen by coincidence. Jack is arrested and sent to a jail where the lead cop's ex-wife just happened to be someone who trained with Jack and she just happens to be a lawyer. Jack contacts her to get him out of jail and she just happens to be related to the dead man on the boat that Jack sunk. Some FBI agents just happen to come to the lawyer's house when Jack is there and just happen to be talking to the lawyer about the dead man, who they are investigating.