Loser's Town

January 19, 2009
Screenwriter Depp's inspired if uneven debut, the first in a new crime series, introduces Hollywood PI David Spandau, a former stunt man too old and beat up to work for the movies any more. Spandau's latest job is to protect film star Bobby Dye from the blackmail attempts of Richie Stella, club owner, drug dealer and Mafia player. Like everyone else in Hollywood, Richie has written a movie script, and he makes it clear to Bobby that the actor will star in the project or else a certain dark secret involving a dead underage girl will hit the headlines. As things get nastier, we meet various characters straight out of central casting—the beautiful single mom who works in one of Stella's clubs and dreams of escape; the career criminal who meets the good woman who will help him go legit. Where Depp shines is his insider's look at the intricate machinations and sordid players who really run the Hollywood machine.

Starred review from April 27, 2009
When David Spandau, a former stuntman turned private investigator, is hired to protect movie star Bobby Dye from mobster (and would be movie producer) Richie Stella, he finds himself embroiled in a world of drugs, blackmail and murder. Don Leslie's deep-voiced, matter-of-fact delivery fits perfect with the author's hard-boiled prose. Both writer and reader sparkle in the dialogue: the opening scene where two bickering thugs are charged with picking up a dead body is both morbid and laugh-out-loud funny. Leslie is adept in his characterizations of numerous Hollywood types, giving each their own distinctive voice. But it is his interpretation of Spandau, whose world-weariness seeps through his wisecracks, that reaches out to the listener. Depp has created a classic American PI, with a nice Tinseltown twist, and Leslie expertly brings him to life. A Simon & Schuster hardcover
(Reviews, Jan. 19).