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FUNNELWEB by Charles West

FUNNELWEB

By

Pub Date: Sept. 8th, 1989
Publisher: Walker

A lively, well-written Australian debut novel (West's first in the US) that seems made for Harrison Ford (if he could manage the accent) with its derring-do, romantic tinges, and intelligence. Stunt-man Tom Grant, a former Det. Supt. who left the force and England after a messy divorce from his opera-star wife, falls down a cliff while filming and careens into a skeleton: a long-dead immigration officer. Meanwhile, miles away, a young prostitute overdoses. Is there a link? Tom noses about and turns up a photograph of the girl with an American mobster, which probably got her killed--and which leads him to the Professor, an educated wino; a bludgeoning by the river; more death; a golfer with an arsenal in his bag; a country-club genteel thug; and a mafioso daughter, who has no compunctions about killing anybody, even dear old dad. Before the film is called a wrap, Tom's been hospitalized; the movie star dies of complications; and the whole company is in dire straits. Nonstop action filled with color (mostly black and blue), though Tom's estrangement from his wife and emerging love for another woman are nicely handled. The standout is Brian, however, the star's campy dresser, who delivers the book's coup de grace. Theatrics, bravado, and romance.