Sylvester Stallone Book:

		List Price: $5.99		Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks Salesrank: 2225785
		Our Price: $135.03
		Used Price: $0.01
		Media: Mass Market Paperback

Editorial Review:

Description of Jitter Joint: Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture Starring Sylvester Stallone! (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries):
Award-winning journalist Howard Swindle is best known for his expeditions into the world of true crime. Trespasses: Portrait of a Serial Rapist and Deliberate Indifference are two gutsy and disturbing real-life thrillers that virtually sweat with emotion and drama.

Jitter Joint is Swindle's first stab at fiction--although in reality he hasn't left the real world too far behind. His central character, Jeb Quinlin, is an alcoholic--as Swindle was some years back. The struggle for sobriety and starting afresh, is a subject that Swindle knows only too well, and he therefore creates a remarkably convincing protagonist. Quinlin, a homicide detective for the Dallas P.D., is forced into a rehabilitation clinic by his boss and his wife. Losing his "estranged wife from the far side of hell" is not a major concern, but losing his beloved job would be agonizing. So Quinlin checks himself in, and prepares to dry out. Yet, before he can even say "Jack Daniels," a grisly murder occurs at the clinic, quickly followed by another. What makes these murders sinister is that the murderer leaves behind a card on each body--a card adorned with a step from AA's Twelve Step program. Quinlin's law-enforcement profession (and more pressure from his boss) make him the perfect person to solve these hideous crimes--despite his fragile state of mind. So begins a frantic battle against time, as Quinlin attempts to unveil the murderer, wrestle with the bottle, and struggle with a new romance. Jitter Joint is a highly addictive read that leaves us yearning for more from Howard Swindle. --Naomi Gesinger

Jitter Joint: Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture Starring Sylvester Stallone! (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) Reviews:
Obvious Villian
2007-05-19 - While the writing in this novel, technically speaking, was very sharp, the villian was obvious from the moment he entered the action. Granted, the author spent the rest of the book unraveling the "why" of the plot, but he made no effort to disguise the bad guy. I listened to the unabridged version of this book and early into Tape 2, I realized that I had four tapes to go and already knew the identity of the killer. The author describes every element of the killer's dress, mannerisms and even puts him in a suspicious light. At no point in the book do you suspect anyone else.

While this might be a good "beach read" for those who don't read often, for a regular reader, it's pretty bad. The plot is somewhat implausible and the author spends a lot of time on characterization backstory that has little or no bearing on the action of the novel.

If suspense is what you are looking for, skip this one. If you like a lot of needless backstory and an obvious killer, this is the book for you.



I think that Howard Swindle has a problem with women
2001-03-29 - I have a lot of problems with this book. Aside from the fact that the "mystery" is a cheat, the "hero" is a drunk, who cheated on his wife, a woman who has put up with his abuse for 20 years. Nonetheless, SHE'S the bad guy for forcing him into rehab and saving his life, not to mention, the horrible sin of adultery on a husband that has been buried in a bottle for years (You see, adultery is only a sin when the WIFE does it, not the husband). But don't worry - she gets hers.

And as a reward for being the jackass that he is, our "hero" is rewarded with the instant "movie type love at first sight" from a blond with big... well, you know. Who just happens to be rich! Wow! She cheated a former lover out of millions! Boy, we've got a couple of heroes to root for here, guys! Obviously, Mr. Swindle has a problem with women who don't let a guy get away with abusing their trust.

The wife is disposed of so that the hero and his new girl (who besides being blond and buxom, is a "total woman" type who let's big strong MAN run the show - she is every adolescent male's fantasy) can live happily ever after. I think that this is the last Howard Swindle, misogynist, book I will buy, thanks.

A Real Winner
2000-11-06 - Homicide detective, Jeb Quinlin, is an alcoholic who doesn't care about much, except the bottle and his job. So when his boss gives him the choice of detox or you're fired, he packs his bags and heads off to the Cedar Ridge Hospital because, after all, it's the job that counts. Once there, he barely has time to start the program before one of the patients in the Substance Abuse Unit is murdered. And when a second patient is murdered, soon after, Jeb's boss decides to put him on the case...he's already on the inside and in the perfect position to investigate. Howard Swindle has written a terrific first novel, that grabs you from the first page with fast paced scenes, interesting characters and enough twists and turns to keep you turning pages to the very end. His writing is smart and spare with down to earth, irreverent dialogue and the story itself is very compelling and full of suspense. A terrific debut novel with one of the best new characters to hit the mystery/detective scene. Let's hope Mr Swindle continues this series.

Decent Read on Airplane, but Holes Exist
2000-07-22 - Just got done reading this book on a long plane flight. It passed the time but there were some holes in it that left me less than impressed.

* Very predictable mystery. It will probably take most readers very little time to identify the obvious culprit. Of course now that we are all trained to expect a plot twist on the obvious I was surprised when it never came.

* Character Believability. Jeb's wife and him drifted apart partly due to her evolved materialistic views. So of course her shacking with another cop after Jeb seems unlikely...more like a lawyer. More examples like this.

I just get the feeling that the "12 step" plot is the sctick and everything else is supposed to fill in with less priority around that...and then they never even got through the 12 steps. Good read to pass the time but nothing original or thorough.

If it's true there will be a movie I'm betting it will be really cheesy unless they make some major script rewrites.

J Clark

Real good quick read
2000-06-13 - jitter joint is a decent thriller..i found it very Sandford like..it is a murder mystery with rehab and aa mixed in..Jeb seems to put everything in front of his sobriety and still come through..very well thought out by the author and i look forward to his next work