Watch Me Die [Kindle Edition]

Lee Goldberg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Approaching the level of Lawrence Block is no mean feat, but Goldberg (the Diagnosis Murder series) succeeds with this engaging PI novel, the first of a new series. Harvey Mapes, an overeducated security guard for a Southern California gated community, is pulled out of his rut when a wealthy resident hires him to tail his wife. Genre readers won't be surprised that this simple assignment turns more complicated, but those who like their mean streets settings to be coupled with a twisty solution will enjoy the surprise ending. While Mapes's rampant sexual appetite may not be for everyone's taste, readers who devoured Block's brilliant Chip Harrison mystery picaresques (which doubled as affectionate pastiches of Nero Wolfe) will find Mapes a worthy (if slightly more mature) successor to Harrison and clamor for more.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Great concept and great execution...it's funny, thrilling, and quirky, with a completely satisfying ending you won't see coming. --Barry Eisler, New York Times bestselling author

Lee Goldberg is known for his cleverness and sense of humor. He shows how a masterful plotter can take a character in a comic situation and lead him into unexpected danger in an eye-blink. --Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author 

When Harvey Mapes gets a chance to step out of his job as a security guard to be a private detective [...]he finds courage he never thought he had and the malleable conscience every successful PI needs. If you're looking for a great read, look no further. --Joel Goldman, bestselling author of "Motion to Kill"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 327 KB
• Print Length: 210 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1456492268
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Adventures in Television; 4 edition (June 8, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003BLPGZO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,836 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #21 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Hard-Boiled
  • #25 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Hard-Boiled
  • #43 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceeded my expectations!, November 3, 2006

By 

Andrew M. Capelli (Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man With The Iron-On Badge (Hardcover)

I bought this book because it was recommended by Amazon when I purchased an Andrew Vachss novel. The cover looked kind of cheesy, like an old Mickey Spillane paperback, but once I started into it, this book was unlike any other mystery I've ever read. The main character was incredibly refreshing. He is not a "hard boiled" detective- He's just a regular guy. In fact, I felt like I could identify with him in many ways. That was the appeal. Unlike Batman, whom I like because he represents what a human in peak form could accomplish to solve crimes, the main character of this novel is able to proceed through the mystery without any advanced training or skills of any kind. As a bonus, though, he's incredibly humorous and self-deprecating as he makes his way through the plot. If you enjoy Elmore Leonard, Lawrence Bloch or would just like to read a mystery that's a great variation on the standard genre, I highly recommend this book!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Change expectations: enjoy a good story, December 5, 2010

By 

Loyd D. Rawls (Newport News, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man With The Iron-On Badge (Hardcover)

I came across this book while I was searching for ebook downloads of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee Series (I'm still searching.) Lee Goldberg has an interesting resume, and he offered the opportunity to download and read this book for free--the only catch was that the reader is expected to publish an online review. I took him up on his offer. BTW, he threw in a second book, The Walk, which I am currently enjoying.
Because of the implied connection to Travis McGee, I guess I expected a hero with the same characteristics but in a different setting. Travis is a big, muscular man with a brilliant economist sidekick. Travis has incredible reflexes that allow him to dodge bullets. He knows about weapons, martial arts and all the tricks of the bad guys. For Travis, sex is something noble and therapeutic. He always considers the woman's emotional state and the traumas that have occupied the tale. He offers and accepts a sexual relationship only when it means something deep and cosmically relevant to the moment.
Goldberg's Harvey Mapes dreams of being Travis McGee, but there is little noble about him. He has the world's least interesting and least relevant career. He works the midnight shift manning the security booth at an upscale gated community. He thinks (often) of sex in Anglo-Saxon simplicity.
Then, out of the blue, Harvey is given the opportunity to fulfill a dream born of thousands of hours spent with book and tv detectives. As the case unfolds, he finds that physical attacks really hurt, imminent danger really scares, and bad guys are really bad.
Most importantly, he discovers reserves within himself that rise to the realities--not just the fantasies--of being a private eye. As the case unfolds and as Harvey discovers his own inner steel, his casual, occasional sex partner reveals herself to be a woman of character and substance, a perfect partner for the newly reconstituted Harvey.
Harvey Mapes is not Travis McGee. Mape's story is more of a coming-of-age tale. It is a romantic comedy. In some ways, it is reality tv. Most of all, it is just a way to spend a couple of enjoyable hours with an unappealing guy who becomes someone you would really like to know--or emulate.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun And Entertaining, March 15, 2006

By 

Michael Barer "Mike Barer" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man With The Iron-On Badge (Hardcover)

This book has suspense, intrigue and more twists than Lombard Street in San Francisco. Harvey Mapes is a security guard at a wealthy apartment complex,low man on a low totem pole. His only excitement is watching Cop shows and reading detective novels. He fantasizes the exciting life of a PI. In almost Wizard Of Oz fashion, a tennant decides to have Harvey trail his wife to which he finds out that their is an added dimension to the trade--pain.