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    Christmas Eve Can Kill You
    Christmas Eve Can Kill You
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    Outskirts Press

    Christmas Eve Can Kill You

    3.8
    €44,00
    €44,00
    €72,00
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    Description

    When country-singer-turned-talkjock Val Virgo (aka Izzy Miller)  receives a phone-in death threat from a self-styled aboriginal militant, he laughs it off as a sick joke. When he wakes up in a hospital bed, having narrowly survived the bombing of his apartment, he is no longer amused. Why would any self-respecting "terrorist" go after a glorified disk jockey? In search of the answer to this vital question Virgo takes a trip down memory lane, to the mean streets of his misspent youth, one step ahead of the mad bomber, finding love along the way. The race against time comes to an explosive conclusion when our hero discovers a long-lost enemy virtually on his doorstep - one hour too late.
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    Customer Reviews

    Laugh riot!"Christmas Even Can Kill You" by William Marantz is an extremely entertaining book! I enjoyed getting to know broken down, Jewish, country singer turned talk-radio jock, Val Virgo. The prose flows well. The dialogue is realistic, sharp, and witty. The characters are well developed and interesting.This story developed at a quick pace. There were plenty of twists and turns and even a couple hairpin turns that caused my breath to catch in my throat. The mystery kept me guessing. The romance was interesting and believable to me. The conclusion left me feeling satisfied yet interested in learning more about Val Virgo. I particularly enjoyed the flavor added by the Winnipeg setting. I could see the great, white north, and I've never even been there.This is a good book. Yes, the narrative voice is sarcastic. As one with a deep sarcastic streak myself, I liked it. I wouldn't mind hanging out with these characters. I enjoyed this book a lot and recommend it to anyone looking for a quick paced, interesting read. 5An easy readThe story flow was smooth, and the outcome exciting. Character development was a bit sketchy for some, others were full and well developed. 4An intelligent and entertaining murder mystery with great dialogThis is an intelligent and entertaining murder mystery. It begins with the sort of glib, live-radio talk show that features the host, Val Virgo, simultaneously handling an interview with the local police inspector, fielding a call-in request from an immigrant listener who needs the city of Winnipeg to collect her garbage, and keeping his envious producer from micro-managing what he says.Immediately afterwards, Val Virgo, the man who, by a simple twist of fate, found himself on radio when his country-music career tanked, has to set out to discover who killed a local judge, and now wants to kill him, while coddling his clunker into staying on the road in the middle of a Canadian winter. One more murder and a love affair later, the mystery is solved, but along the way you will come across some great dialog and one-liners. The novel came alive for me about a third of the way through, when Val Virgo has the luck to be pulled into the arms of a grieving widow, whose one-liners are every bit as good as his. The dynamic scene-setting and the dialog had kept it moving nicely along for the first third.Quite a few set pieces, such as the description of the seamy, low-rent side of Winnipeg, the marvelous love talk and banter (I am tempted even to write 'Marivaudage') between Val and the beautiful Abby Brown, and the Hogarthian meeting with a not-so-retired journalist are very well-written, and show that Val Virgo can tone down the mouth-jockey aspect to his character when the occasion calls for it.I agree with some other reviews that there is a need for better copy editing at a few points in the book, but that doesn't detract from a fine novel. 5Can you figure it out ?The title of the book Christmas Eve Can Kill You immediately piqued my interest. A quote from the book, I m Dreaming of a White Christmas doesn't warm the cockles of the old ticker when you've been shoveling snow since Halloween. drew me in the rest of the way I soon realized this was a story about a Jewish radio personality in Winnipeg Canada involved in mysterious bombings. I had challenged myself during 2015 to read books outside my comfort zone. This promised to meet the criteria and so I was soon deep into the story.The prime character Val Virgo (self declared King of the Open Line) is soon up to his neck in multiple bombings including an attempt on him. He obviously has a vested interest in solving this mystery. I will not spoil it for you by writing a book report on something you can read yourself.I loved Val s ironic and sometimes sarcastic style. Even when he tries to behave, his wry humor often got the better of him. Maybe this is to keep from giving in to nerves.Having grown up in New York City, I loved the inclusion of Yiddish in the dialogue. There is not so much that it overwhelms the story but rather it spices the meaning. It authenticates Val as a Jewish character from the 1990 s.I had not solved the mystery by the time I got to the end of the book ( unlike myriad other stories I had read) My ego was hurt and so I read the story a second time to make sure the author played by the rules and displayed all the clues needed to solve the puzzle. He did!. 5A Good ReadI really enjoyed this book. It had everything I like in a book: humor, suspense, mystery, and romance. It did have some editing errors. Otherwise, it would have been a Five Star book. I loved the mystery; it kept me guessing until almost the very end. I figured it out just before it was revealed. I would like to read more by this author. I would definitely recommend this book. 4Live Radio Turns DeadlyI'm always on the lookout for offbeat holiday mysteries for my Listamania lists. William Marantz's CHRISTMAS EVE CAN KILL YOU is a jewel among contenders.Val Virgo is a talk radio host whose background is country music. He has had minor success and takes a job in Winnepege to expand his career. Easy to listen to and personably to the call-ins he captures an audience despit the blocks set in his path by an ambitious producer who aims for his mike.A bommer is loose in the city and gives Val a call to let him know he is next on the list. NAAPALM, a Indian group comes to the forefront of the investigation as agents for revenge of a young Indian wronged by the court system as each victim besides a letter carrier had contact with the accused. Val loses his home and motel room to the killer, then discovers a safe haven with the widow of the slain judge.Winters are cold on the plains of Canada and the cheer of the holiday lights of both the Jewish and Christian celebration are used to move the plot forward. Marantz's plot twists and turns with red herrings that leave you thinking, "I know who did it" until you turn a page and are confronted with a new story direction.Scenes will leave you laughing and others will bring tears. This is a story for all seasons.Nash Black, author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH. 5Three StarsSomewhat entertaining. 3It's a Real KillerWhoo boy, can this guy write! I laughed. I cried. Well, I laughed, anyway, and kept turning the pages, devouring the words as I went. Christmas Eve Can Kill You is a clever, laugh-out-loud, edge-of-the-seat murder mystery, a first novel from a gifted Canadian author who writes with wicked humor, knife-edge intelligence, and a strong point of view that brings alive the culture and calamities of life above the border in the depressing Winnipeg winter.Marantz is head and shoulders above the rest in this crowded genre. His eccentric humor and crystal clear prose are what you might get if you crossed Jasper Fford with Michael Chabon. His energetic writing pulls you by the collar through a tangled plot that he deftly untwists. Val Virgo, failed country singer and indifferent talk-show host, is as unforgettable as that screwball friend who used to crack you up in school. Marantz creates heroes who are flawed and bad guys have good parts, and you end up believing them all.Granted, there are moments when you can lose the thread, but not many and never for long. And for readers south of the Provinces, some of the local color and Canadian references can take a few extra milliseconds to puzzle out. Still, my mouse hovered between a four and a five star rating only because of the weak copy-editing that left a dirty ring of typos around the tub. If you can ignore them, prepare yourself for a great read with a satisfying resolution.--Larry Constantine, writing as Lior Samson, author of Bashert, The Dome, and Web Games 5Proofreading pleaseThe story itself was fine but what has happened to proofreading. So many errors, it took away from the story. 3Sarcastic and Self Deprecating HumorI read this book because the author commented on another review I did (of a story I gave one star). He said he wasn't getting any reviews even though his book was free too and felt that even bad reviews would be better than no review.Well, I'm not going to give a bad review. I honestly thought I might have to after the first couple of chapters. This was not an easy read.But after a couple more chapters, I started to settle into the character. I picked up the cadence of the author's voice and started to enjoy the cranky main character.I think plenty of people here have discussed the plot, so I'm not going to. I think if you enjoy crime mysteries, you don't really care too much what the mystery is about. If you do, I'm sure you'll read some of the other reviews and suss it out.I'm not sure if this is a good book. But I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy sitting down for a few drinks with the author. I guess I get his point of view.The mystery, when he gets down to it, is good enough. The story is not predictable, and the main character is well developed. He has enough depth (eventually) that I cared how the story turned out. That counts for a lot to me.I haven't done any research on the author yet (wanted to leave a review first), and I don't know if this is an early work. I'm curious to see if there are subsequent works. This work is in need an assertive editor.I like exposition more than I should so I think others might be more critical. I'd be willing to give another volume a go. Especially if the main character is Val Virgo. 3
    Christmas Eve Can Kill You

    Christmas Eve Can Kill You

    3.8
    You can't add more than 500 quantity.
    €44,00
    €44,00
    €72,00
    Sold out
    Save 39% (€28,00)