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Summary: What a business
Review: A quick, entertaining memoir of Jimmy Wagner's short and adreneline soaked career as a New York PI. Famous people, good and bad, populate this fast paced tale.
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Summary: I felt like throwing her a frisbee
Review: has to be one of the most hilarious lines Ive ever read in a book, I found myself laughing out loud. Ive been in the repossession business for the past 20 years and I can relate to Wags' stories. Theyre well written, funny and they definitely keep your interest. I couldnt put the book down and now cant wait for the movie to see who will play Hondo.
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Summary: Jimmy the Wags
Review: I could not put this book down. I laughed from start to finish. What a great way to spend a summer afternoon!
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Summary: Macho boastfulness and a bit of humanity
Review: Subtitled, "Street Stores of a Private Eye" by James Wagner, this true story of a retired cop who turned private eye is a fast and easy read. His co-author, Patrick Picciarelli, is a good writer and he makes Jimmy's story read like a well paced novel. Jimmy's full of swagger, wisecracks, and macho boastfulness and at first he annoyed me with his know-it-all attitude and narrow focus. Jimmy's always justifying his actions. And when he later ponders moral questions letting big bucks cloud his judgement as he starts to work for the mob, he does it in a cock-sure way that makes even his weaknesses seem a way of boasting. But although I often felt angry with Jimmy, the talent of the writer let his humanity come though. Underneath his swagger, there's a little kid who's wanting adventure and wanting to look important in the eyes of his buddies. It's a good, small book and I enjoyed reading it. It might have annoyed me at times, but it also made me laugh out loud. Probably some of the stories were exaggerated, but there's enough here that rings true to give the reader a picture of a gritty way of life that's lived on the edge. This is not fiction. And there are no heroic acts. Just a story of one man and the world he lives in. I might not like Jimmy very much, but I did like the book. Once started, I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Macho boastfulness and a bit of humanity
Review: Subtitled, "Street Stores of a Private Eye" by James Wagner, this true story of a retired cop who turned private eye is a fast and easy read. His co-author, Patrick Picciarelli, is a good writer and he makes Jimmy's story read like a well paced novel. Jimmy's full of swagger, wisecracks, and macho boastfulness and at first he annoyed me with his know-it-all attitude and narrow focus. Jimmy's always justifying his actions. And when he later ponders moral questions letting big bucks cloud his judgement as he starts to work for the mob, he does it in a cock-sure way that makes even his weaknesses seem a way of boasting. But although I often felt angry with Jimmy, the talent of the writer let his humanity come though. Underneath his swagger, there's a little kid who's wanting adventure and wanting to look important in the eyes of his buddies. It's a good, small book and I enjoyed reading it. It might have annoyed me at times, but it also made me laugh out loud. Probably some of the stories were exaggerated, but there's enough here that rings true to give the reader a picture of a gritty way of life that's lived on the edge. This is not fiction. And there are no heroic acts. Just a story of one man and the world he lives in. I might not like Jimmy very much, but I did like the book. Once started, I couldn't put it down.
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Summary: Great book!!
Review: The style and format of this book made it a very easy and enjoyable read! Unlike other books or TV PI's "Jimmy the Wags" comes off as a real person with real emotions, where the best layed plans still have a way of going wrong. Although, some of the stories seem to be a stretch, Jimmy and his sidekick, Hondo, seem like a couple of guys out looking for adventure and find it! I loved the personal stories as they are interwoven with his adventures and various jobs. All in all, a great book that I would highly recommend!
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Summary: Jimmy Does the Deed - - Great Private Eye Stories!
Review: This book is a great read and I finished it in two sittings. It directly catches the reader with a direct and interesting writing approach. The book contains really interesting and wild stories about his life both as a NYPD and then into detail about being a PI. The stories about the Arabs visiting NYC and the operations in Denmark and Turkey are killer and worth the price of the book alone! Reads like Jimmy is sitting next to you telling his story. A great buy.
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Summary: This Book Reads like Rouge Warrior.....
Review: This book is the best thing that ever happened to me. I was stuck in the Orlando airport being delayed. My kids were running up the walls. Yet this book took me away from all my problems. I was enthralled by this tremendous personality. Jimmy and Pat made my trip seem like an hour instead of 6 hours. thanks Wags
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Summary: From cop to mob shake-down enforcer: a slippery slope indeed
Review: This New York ex-cop entertains us with tales of his career as a private investigator, which he defines unusually broadly, to include such jobs as bodyguard, collection agent, mafia go-fer, and manager of a topless bar. There are some great stories here, and the book is hard to put down. However, I was very disturbed by the contrast between the author's claims to wanting to do the right thing and the fact that he was doing some very illegal things, which he obviously had no trouble rationalizing to himself. The most extreme example is when he works as a "collection agent," extorting money from businesses for the mafia. Wagner is genuinely shocked - shocked! - that some trigger-happy prosecutor might want to put him in jail for this! After all, Wagner tried to make sure he wasn't in the room when actual violence occurred, although there were exceptions, and anyway, these were massage parlours and unlicensed bars - so obviously he wasn't doing anything wrong?! It's astonishing how such an intelligent and articulate man could have so completely lost his moral compass without realizing it. Even when Wagner acknowledges he had slid down the slippery slope of wrongdoing, one gets the impression his regrets are more pragmatic, rather than ethical, in nature.
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Summary: Wags is a character straight out of central casting...
Review: Wags is character alright and fundamentally decent, if a bit flawed, man. His story reads like a novel or comedic film. I'm not quite sure where the truth was stretched, but his honest delivery is well worth the (very fast) read. He tells some wild stories--some are hilarious--some violent--some just out there (the one handed, parrot carrying, heiress). But, the tone works and the the world of the PI is exposed as it never was on Magnum PI.
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