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Rating: 
Summary: Just a Bit Twisty
Review: A readable but unremarkable story set in the pit of all excess, Hollywood. This is not the first book with the Jimmy Gage protagonist, and it would be helpful to start at the beginning. The story contains a few plot twists to keep it interesting, but they could have been more artfully done. The Killer's ultimate motivation is never made clear. In addition, the protagonist's coup de main's are executed just a bit too easily. This book is OK for the beach.
Rating: 
Summary: Your hunt for an entertaining mystery is over!
Review: Ace reporter Jimmy Gage (star of 2001's Flinch) is back, investigating another mystery. This one involves famous director Garrett Walsh, whom Gage meets at the end of a wild, drunken scavenger hunt (one of the items on the improbable and varied list is an Oscar). Former wunderkind Walsh, recently released from prison after serving time for the [horrible crime] of a fifteen-year old girl, claims to have been the victim of a massive set up. Eager for publicity, Walsh tells Gage that he's written a screenplay based on those events, entitled "Fall Guy." That script turns up missing a few weeks later after Walsh is found face down in a fishpond, his face mangled by hungry koi. Sensing a bigger story, Gage investigates Walsh's [end of life] while looking into the events that led to the director's conviction. His questions stir up trouble and a string of corpses. Tight and tense, Scavenger Hunt combines solid writing with clever plot twists, resulting in a memorable, fast packed work of fiction that is as darkly funny as it is suspenseful. Jimmy Gage is a winning protagonist, competent yet vulnerable, skeptical yet sympathetic to the underdog. The villain is a likable yet [dangerous] juggernaut who remains in the background until well into the narrative, emerging from the shadows around mid-book to stalk Jimmy and the acquaintances and friends in his orbit. Ferrigno cannily cues readers to the killer's identity with an innocent, but bone chilling line of dialogue, one which sets them on edge until the novel's gripping conclusion. Reminiscent of the work of Carl Hiassen, Elmore Leonard, and Gregory McDonald, Scavenger Hunt is utterly absorbing, an edgy page-turner you'll be sorry to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Do yourself a favor. Pick up all of Ferrigno's books starting with The Horse Latitudes. I have to admit that I thought his best book was Horse Latitudes, until I read Scavenger Hunt. I found myself reading the last 50 pages in 10 page chunks because I didn't want it to end. My only complaint is the 12-18 months it takes for Ferrigno to write his next book. Well worth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: Another strong Gage book...
Review: Ferringon continues to make me a fan of his work. This novel is populated with fewer strange characters than "Flinch" and is a less personal story (I guess any story where you suspect your brother of being a serial keller is personal as in Flinch)...yet it works. The murder mysteries here take some great turns. Jimmy is far more settled in this book and seems happier. I was sad to see Jane Holt and Desmond relgated to smaller roles. Same with Rollo, although he was around. This was much more about the case and less about these wonderful characters. Still, the mystery is a dandy and Hollywood again is shown to be a place of murder and redemption.
Rating:
Summary: Another strong Gage book...
Review: Ferringon continues to make me a fan of his work. This novel is populated with fewer strange characters than "Flinch" and is a less personal story (I guess any story where you suspect your brother of being a serial keller is personal as in Flinch)...yet it works. The murder mysteries here take some great turns. Jimmy is far more settled in this book and seems happier. I was sad to see Jane Holt and Desmond relgated to smaller roles. Same with Rollo, although he was around. This was much more about the case and less about these wonderful characters. Still, the mystery is a dandy and Hollywood again is shown to be a place of murder and redemption.
Rating:
Summary: Great plot, so-so writing
Review: I almost didn't bother reading past the first chapter or two of this book because the writing is so sub-par compared to what I normally read. Now, this guy's no Dean Koontz or Danielle Steele (I give him much more credit than that), but this book is just simply not well written. Someone needs to remind Mr Ferrigno about the guideline "show, don't tell." I'm not criticizing the book because he didn't always write in a showing manner -- that turns out books that are crummy as well. Unfortunately, a significant chunk of the book is ALL tell and that makes Amy an unhappy camper. Instead of showing that a character was x, y, or z, Mr Ferrigno just flat out tells us. Every. single. time. That's lazy! Aside from a plague of telling, there're also lots of places in the book where the narration is totally stilted and seems very forced. If Mr Ferrigno was trying to imitate the popular "chop" style of newspaper ledes with several long wordy sentences and then a very staccato finishing sentence, he failed. It merely looked like he didn't know what he was doing. There are other issues, and in one case the author uses the wrong character name! The dialog is mostly good, but I don't think there's enough differentiation between the different characters' manner of speaking. I think in lots of places you could swap around the names and you'd never know the difference. Now, you're wondering why I gave it four stars, then. (If I could, it'd be a 3.5, but I'm feeling generous.) Because the story is killer. Sometimes you read a book and love it just for the story, not the writing. Sometimes you read a book and love it just for the writing because the story's no good. This is definitely one of the former, but worth your time, especially if you love twisty plots -- unless, of course, you're even more of a writerly nitpicker than myself.
Rating: 
Summary: A Body in the Pond is no Accident
Review: Looking for an Oscar on a scavanger hunt in L.A. cynical magazine writer Jimmy Gage comes to the door of Garrett Walsh, who had been a boy genius filmmaker. Walsh has just finished serving a prison sentence for killing a teenage girl. He has a new screenplay about a brilliant director framed for murder, what else, and once he finds out who Gage is, he asks for his help. But before Gage can do anything for the director, Walsh is found floating in a carp pond, dead. The police say accident, Gage doesn't think so and he starts investigating. Robert Ferrigno is one of my favorite writers. He writes with wit and style, painting unforgettable characters in wild, wooly, urban Southern California and this book is no exception. We get tough guys who aren't so tough, smart guys who aren't so smart, hustlers and a murderer. And we get one of Ferrigno's best. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Rating:
Summary: He's baaaaack
Review: Robert Ferrigno wrote Horse Latitudes and then followed it with the brilliant Heartbreaker, which stands alone as great mystery noir. Then we didn't hear from him for awhile. That hiatus was followed by Flinch. I did not care for Flinch. I imagine I didn't care for Jimmy Gage. He seemed trite and superficial. Perhaps another author would start anew but Mr. Ferrigno rewrote Jimmy. And this Jimmy, well let's say that Spenser, Elvis and Dave Robicheaux have nothing on him. The story opens innocuously enough on a scavenger hunt authored by the bizarre and wealthy editor (and Jimmy's boss) of Slap Magazine, Nino. Read eccentric. Read wierd. But read interesting. All of Ferrigno's characters are interesting. The sexy Holt, the brash and abusive (but with a heart of gold) Katz, Rollo, the murder victim Walsh, all of them. What's fascinating about Jimmy Gage is that he now has great depth and great range. He's fearless, he's loyal and he's committed. Walsh is killed; Jimmy blames himself for not listening to all the warning signs. (See Bogart in The Long Goodbye.) He can't let go of the incongruities. Twists. Turns. False discoveries. Irrelevant Kung Fu masters and Baskeball players. Violent confrontations and searing sex. Ferrigno makes you feel uncomfortable. And then there is Sugar. Whew. Sugar really makes you feel uncomfortable. Whodunit? Fooled me. A great novel. A keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: Robert Ferrigno's "Scavenger Hunt" is a subtle, darkly mesmerizing Hollywood tale of murder, ambition, frame-ups, set-ups, double-crosses and clever sleuthing. After serving seven years, Oscar winning producer Garrett Walsh is determined to prove his innocence. His vehicle is what he terms, the "most dangerous screenplay in Hollywood." Walsh wants SLAP magazine's cynical, skeptical, irreverent, high profile reporter Jimmy Gage to publicize the screenplay, before someone attempts to silence him permanently. Jimmy fails to buy in. But, when Walsh is found floating in his koi pond and the screenplay missing, Jimmy doubts it was the accidental death the police claim. No one shares Jimmy's thesis except his nefarious pal Rollo. Together they work their way thru a colorful cast of quirky Hollywood types, and around the cops who consider the case closed. The plot is superb: sophisticated, solid, circuitous and overflowing with scintillating dialogue. Mr. Ferrigno withholds enough info to keep surprises coming and the pages turning. The pace never slackens, and the accelerating danger of the killer keeps the tenseness at a high pitch. A delightful read. Hooray for Hollywood!
Rating:
Summary: Memorable bad guy
Review: This moves when the bad guy is on the page. Gather this one up for an enjoyable summer read.
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