Not Enough Horses

Robbie Bingham is an aspiring young actor and part-time male hustler; Steven Brandon is the powerful programming chief of a major network. The only thing they will ever share is a stop sign in Beverly Hills. As their cars draw abreast of each other, Bingham's explodes, killing him and badly injuring Brandon. Who was the intended victim? Was someone out to snuff Robbie or was he merely a delivery boy sent to take Brandon's life? Both Robbie's lover and Brandon himself call upon actor/private detective Saxon to investigate. Armed with the names of suspects avid to replace Brandon as network chief as well as those of the drifters who, like Robbie, hustle on Santa Monica Boulevard, Saxon begins his search, rendered with a fine blend of laughter, action and heart. Though a far-too-obvious clue reveals the murderer's identity to the reader well before it should, the author's ability to evoke both the seamy and glitzy side of the movie world makes the lapse forgivable. His portraits of a lusty, aging Hollywood star, a teenage runaway and Saxon himself (first met in An Infinite Number of Monkeys) make one look forward to Saxon's next case. (February 19)