Sam Razor, Private Investigator: The Blonde with the Bad Nose Job by Carlo Armenise

Sam Razor, a rugged PI with skills for the highest bidder, gets caught up with messy Sin City mob dealings in The Blonde with the Bad Nose Job, the first case in author Carlo Armenise’s Sam Razor, Private Investigator chronicles.

Hunting down the sister of a wealthy Vegas socialite, Sam has to plumb the dirty depths of Vegas, but the real threat may actually be coming from closer to home. Navigating a tangle of lies, false identities, and a number of guns being pointed at his head, this quick-with-a-joke PI jumps from one pot of boiling water to another, relentless in his pursuit of justice – and a major payday.

The plot moves at a rapid clip, as this quick read tops out just over 100 pages, resulting in some elements feeling rushed. The author is good at building tension quickly, but the resulting payoffs and plot twists often deserve more patience. Readers are rocketed through a kidnapping investigation, but this blistering pace means a dearth of character development outside of Sam’s backstory, though Sam himself is a compelling lead character, which is key to successful PI fiction.

Appropriate for this style of pulp writing, the story ends with a clean and tidy ending, and the journey to get there is an entertaining one. Armenise has laid solid groundwork for his eccentric protagonist, making this particular case a wild and clever PI romp.

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