Shakedown Beach: A Mystery

by Eric Dezenhall

Book Overview

Time for a civics lesson---Jersey style. Jonah Eastman and Jackie Disaster team up for another in the series of Eric Dezenhall's acclaimed PR crisis manager mysteries. The Governor: Gardner Rebound... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312307721
• ISBN13: 9780312307721
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

A fun, fast read on a summer weekend

Picked up a copy of Shakedown Beach after reading the New York Times' review of it. The book actually lived up to the review. Great satire -- at a time when the country desperately needs some humor -- and an interesting look at how political operatives work behind the scenes. Sometimes a bit over the top (just like a Carl Hiaasen novel), but overall, a very fun and fast read. Perfect for summer, perfect for coping with the coming election.

HOTAND SOPHISTICATED

Jonah Eastman, a can do political operative had a whopping problem:a candidate who wont tell him the truth,a half wit trying to kill him and an election he must win.When his philandering client Rebound Rothman switches his position on riverboat gambling Jonah gets the picture_someone has some very damaging photos of Rebound.What Jonah has going for him is the wisdom passed down from his mob grandfather, Mickey Price.He calls in Chief Willie Thundercloud,an ex wrestler with a bunch of local muscle, and Willie runs interference while Jonah uncovers,literally,the Governors secret_a molten tart named Simone Lava who the Governor has stashed in a lovers lane motel practically under the Atlantic City Boardwalk.While the scheming Governor demands that Jonah trash his opponent, an uptight WASP named Digby Stahl,Jonah suspects that Governor Rothmans problems with Simone Lavar are only the tip of the volcano.Maybe the Governor needs a get out of jail free card.Working in concert with a hot shot reporter known collquially as Barium Enema_Jonah delves into the long ago death of Nora Kelly,a one time flame of Governor Rothman that prematurely burned out.Piece by piece Jonah is drawn into a twenty year old mystery of murder ,lust, ambition and retribution that he must solve to salvage his own self esteem and save his sinking marriage.Relentlessly with a killer on his tail Jonah pursues the truth ,figuring if it wont set him free at least it will provide sufficient cash to take Rebound off his back and an honor a few outstading markers.Written with the pulse of Atlantic City beating beneath the surface,SHAKEDOWN BEACH,is an extrordinary tale of good and evil providing readers an adrenalin rush as powerful , provacative and surprising as a dive off the Atlantic City Pier.

A Terrific Read for Summer and the Election Season

Shakedown Beach has it all: mobsters, crooked politicians, a true 21st Century Femme Fatale, and-- just for good measure-- a former pro wrestler turned private eye that might just be Dezenhall's best character yet!Character development really is Dezenhall's strength... he captures everything that's good and bad in human nature, adds a touch of "Jersey" and mixes it all together to form a cast so real that you will feel like you are literally "down the shore" as they say in the Garden State.This book belongs on anyone's summer reading list, and what a great primer for the upcoming election season!

terrific look at modern day image making

New Jersey Governor "Rebound" Rothman runs for the senate with plans to go for the White House next. However, Rebound has three-decade-old skeletons in his closet. He has hidden away one female intern, former township beauty queen winner and All American bimbo Simone Lava, in Atlantic City's Celebrity Motel, run down since the first Johnson Administration. . However, someone films Rebound's tryst proclivities.Rebound hires pollster Jonah Eastman to fix his senate run. Jonah handed Rebound the governorship when he painted the opponent as causing a hurricane the size of Asia that destroyed rural South Jersey (do not laugh; there really is a rural Jersey). Spinning the assignation film is easy. Dealing with Rebound's support of riverboat gambling in light of a credibility gap involving crooked casino owners is complex because investigative reporter Barri "Barium Enema" Embry needs political exposés to connive his way to cross the Hudson. Jonah brings in the troops, damage control expert Chief Willie Thundercloud and nonagenarian former mob enforcer Irv the Curve to spin a tale that Machiavelli would appreciate.As with JACKIE DISASTER, SHAKEDOWN BEACH is a terrific look at modern day image making that our leaders spend fortunes on to include painting the opponent in a bad light. Truth is meaningless as Jonah and his associates know that for Rebound to win they must provide an Atlantic Ocean size lie or two about their client and his opponent. Witty, humorous, but in many ways frightening, the story line will shake readers as they realize Madison Avenue not oil runs the country. Eric Dezenhall makes New Jersey the spin capital of the world with a tale well worth reading especially with the election coming soon.Harriet Klausner

Could not put this book down!

I discovered Dezenhall when I read his first novel, "Money Wanders," loved the follow-up "Jackie Disaster," and have been really looking forward to this latest offering in his series of excellent Jersey-based mysteries. "Shakedown Beach," featuring the return of the wonderfully developed central character--disgraced political pollster Jonah Eastman--is a masterpiece, and Dezenhall's best work to date. I actually read it in one long sitting because I could not put the thing down...(seriously)"Shakedown Beach" is loaded with political chicanery, suspense, scandal, love (both the 'good' kind and the 'not so good' kind), and a host of mobster-types and other wonderfully bizarre characters ("Chief Willie Thundercloud" and "Irv the Curve" being my favorites). Probably the best thing about it, though--and something I love about this author--is that yes, this is a serious suspense / mystery-type book, but it is also HILARIOUS throughout. Lots of incredibly clever and even laugh-out-loud moments.Great book, great author. This one should be turned into a movie.