BOOKPAGE:
“Let me tell you about Tom Bethany, the detective Jerome Doolittle has
wrought. Tom Bethany is tough--he’s an amateur wrestler, after all. Wrestling,
in a way, is a metaphor for how Bethany lives his life. When he’s engaged
he’s totally committed, focused and very close to the opposition. He uses his
opponents’ moves to defeat them. Bethany has an unlisted phone in a phony
name (that’s real anonymity). His best friend and love of his life is married
to another. She is an attorney who runs the Washington office of the ACLU.
“Bethany has been hired to prove that poor little
rich man Morty Limbach did not commit suicide. If he did commit suicide, the
quarter of a million dollar life insurance policy will not be paid, and the
beneficiary is the ACLU. Morty lived a troubled life: low self-esteem and a
generous nature. His parents didn’t understand or appreciate him. They sent
him to a psychiatrist when he voted for George McGovern. Morty spent the last
years of his life supporting an improvisational theater troupe.
“Doolittle’s writing and observations of the
Northeastern establishment and fringe groups are laser quality. He describes
certain chi-chi leather furniture as looking like oversized dog beds. (It
does.) He describes the life of one woman: ‘years of drudgery and day
laboring had geared her down like a tractor for the long, slow haul.’ This is
definitely not applicable to Bethany. The first Bethany novel, Body
Scissors, is terrific, too. ”
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL:
“Strangle Hold is terrific!
Fully a dozen characters, most notably the Harvard constitutional law scholar
and the odious insurance executive, are wonderfully well developed.
Doolittle’s Boston is alternately gritty and charming, and his dialogue
is as crisp as the leaves that fall in Harvard Square in October. Best
though, is Bethany: he’s Travis McGee without the pontification, Spenser
with an attitude. His righteous thuggery against the insurance man and his
minions is startling, cruel, and ultimately satisfying. ”
TRENTON TIMES:
“Jerome Doolittle goes for the
gold in Strangle Hold, which wins in the Amoral Tough Guy/Rough Justice Event
. . . The morals of this book are neolithic, but the writing is hard-edged,
sure and crackling. It moves fast, it’s ugly, and it cheats. If you like
this sort of stuff, then buddy, this one’s for you. What does it say
about our country’s morals that the creator of this sick masterpiece is a
former White House speech writer? ”
(Author’s note: This remains, naturally, my favorite
review. --JD)
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER:
“The plot hurtles along,
and the characters are richly drawn originals. Doolittle writes like Muhammad
Ali used to punch--clean and sharp and powerful . . . Within his own morality
Bethany is heroic, an Everyman tilting against wealth and power. And
that’s what detective fiction is supposed to be about. Strangle Hold is
one of those books you’ll stay up all night to finish. ”
To Get the Book
The first chapter is
available on this site. The entire book, in
Portable Document Format, can be had as shareware.
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size for hard cover books. It will print in horizontal format on standard
8.5 " x ll " paper, giving the effect of an open book with facing pages.
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else. The full book will then be e-mailed to you. If you like it, send five dollars.
