R. J. King

Interesting look at Nino Cutraro, an entrepreneur who created some of the most iconic night clubs and restaurants in America. Nino immigrated to America with $20 in his pocket and with a little hard work and a lot of good business sense started creating iconic businesses (mainly in Detroit) that people still talk about today. All the major celebrities went to them and they became legendary even after they were closed down or rebranded. From disco clubs to Italian restaurants to dance venues to western bars; the whos who of every in America passed through the doors and Nino has the pictures to prove it. Madonna, David Bowie, Pavarotti, Stevie Wonder, Al Gore, Sugar Ray Leonard and so many more came back time and again. Nino even developed a deep relationship with Mark Whalburg and helped open up their first restaurant. This book is fun and reads like a long Rolling Stone article. A fun little coffee table book.… (mer)

I’m so mixed on what I want to say. It was a book I loved and it was a book I didn’t love. Yes. It was both. *shrug* I gave it four stars because I wanted to just do nothing but read it. It lost a star because the ending didn’t work well for me. I’m not saying more than that about the ending. It’s something you need to read and see how it works for you.
I usually get annoyed by books that constantly change from past to present and back again. In this book, it worked for me. I was intrigued by how the past shaped Raymond and Edmund. I was equally interested in the murders and the investigation. The characters were realistic to me. For much of it, I could picture scenes in my head. The writing, I thought, was a little uneven at times. It occasionally drifted to telling instead of showing. While I prefer to have the style be one or the other, the story still held my interest.
It is a book I will most likely read again. I want to analyze it and talk about it. I want to know what others thought of the beginning and ending; did the ending work for them? I already know I’ll be asking myself questions about it for days to come. This is how it earned four stars.
I would recommend it to those who enjoy reading crime books. The violence/gore level was not extreme. I appreciate that as my imagination works just fine. There were disturbing scenes, which in my opinion, would place this as an adult book.
*I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. My review is based upon my experience with the book. My review is voluntary.*… (mer)