Rating:  Summary: Title is best part, unfortunately... Review: 400 pounds is good, but doesn't inspire any fear from me: I've battled guys who push much more weight than that. The plot is rich on wiseguy and cop prose, but terribly disjointed. And Mr. Stella is probably a liberal anti-gun dink with no real knowledge of firearms: I don't think a bullet in either ".9mm" or ".25mm" is going to hurt anybody. Stick to Elmore Leonard.
Rating:  Summary: Title is best part, unfortunately... Review: 400 pounds is good, but doesn't inspire any fear from me: I've battled guys who push much more weight than that. The plot is rich on wiseguy and cop prose, but terribly disjointed. And Mr. Stella is probably a liberal anti-gun dink with no real knowledge of firearms: I don't think a bullet in either ".9mm" or ".25mm" is going to hurt anybody. Stick to Elmore Leonard.
Rating:  Summary: Kirkus Reviews Jimmy Bench Press Review: From Kirkus Reviews Born Jimmy Mangino, he's known these days, some 35 years later, as Jimmy Bench-Press, marking the time he lifted 402 pounds while marking time in the slammer. Now that he's released, Jimmy seeks suitable employment--mostly from the Vignieris, a New York City crime family frequently in need of no-nonsense persuaders like Jimmy. On being sent to collect a debt from a young woman foolishly inclined toward welshing, he offers her his patented facial in hopes of changing her mind. What's a facial? "I knocked her teeth out," he explains. Jimmy scares virtually everyone in his Soprano-esque universe--everyone but Detectives DeNafria and Pavlik, who detest him, regard him as the very embodiment of why they chose to be cops, and will not sleep until they succeed in locking him away again. But in addition to being brawny and beastly, Jimmy's also brainy in the ways of street thugs. He's immensely savvy about surveillance, about hidden wires, covert cameras, and what it takes to keep even skilled cops at bay. Moreover, DeNafria and Pavlik have to be circumspect, since both are saddled with checkered pasts. So while they stalk Jimmy, hoping for a misstep, others watch them for much the same reason. Stella's debut (Eddie's World, 2001) was dark and violent, but this ups the ante to rampant brutality. Still, the story of the two troubled cops--essentially honorable men in a society where principle has become excess baggage--is compelling. Almost redeeming.
Rating:  Summary: Stella just gets better Review: I read Eddie's World by Charlie Stella and was looking forward to more of his work -- I wasn't disappointed. Jimmy Bench Press, if it's possible, is even better than the first book. Charlie Stella just gets better and better. I recommend this new author's work to anyone who enjoys witty and fast dialogue and intriguing hooks. Jimmy Bench Press is one of the best crime fiction novels to grace the shelves in a long while. Excellent read!
Rating:  Summary: Couldn't put it down! Review: I'm usually too busy to finish a book quickly, but I finished this one in two days -- I just couldn't put it down! Who cares if I didn't get much sleep?! It was well worth it. What impressed me most was Stella's ability to keep the reader reading, despite the late hour. He really gets you involved with his characters, anxious to find out what will happen to them next. I also gave this book to a few of my friends to read, and they all agree with me. I was so impressed with Stella's work that I purchased his first novel, Eddie's World. I feel the same way about Eddie's World as I do about Jimmy Bench Press; they're both great novels. This would be an excellent read for someone who truly enjoys Sopranos-like entertainment, or for someone who merely appreciates really good writing.
Rating:  Summary: Lean and Mean Review: Jimmy Mangino, aka "Jimmy Bench-Press", is one of those characters that just gets under your skin. Author Charlie Stella does a great job of laying out the day-to-day ugliness that defines the real world of organized crime while at the same time showing that the characters that operate in this world aren't really so removed from the average guy on the street. Jimmy Bench-Press is everyman's worse nightmare -- a guy you wouldn't want to be your enemy or your friend for that matter. Great prose style, interesting story, plot twists and super dialogue made this a quick and entertaining read.
Rating:  Summary: Lean and Mean Review: Jimmy Mangino, aka "Jimmy Bench-Press", is one of those characters that just gets under your skin. Author Charlie Stella does a great job of laying out the day-to-day ugliness that defines the real world of organized crime while at the same time showing that the characters that operate in this world aren't really so removed from the average guy on the street. Jimmy Bench-Press is everyman's worse nightmare -- a guy you wouldn't want to be your enemy or your friend for that matter. Great prose style, interesting story, plot twists and super dialogue made this a quick and entertaining read.
Rating:  Summary: Lean and Mean Review: Jimmy Mangino, aka "Jimmy Bench-Press", is one of those characters that just gets under your skin. Author Charlie Stella does a great job of laying out the day-to-day ugliness that defines the real world of organized crime while at the same time showing that the characters that operate in this world aren't really so removed from the average guy on the street. Jimmy Bench-Press is everyman's worse nightmare -- a guy you wouldn't want to be your enemy or your friend for that matter. Great prose style, interesting story, plot twists and super dialogue made this a quick and entertaining read.
Rating:  Summary: Rock em Sock em Great Read Review: This take-no-prisoners follow up to Eddie's World takes you deep inside the life of street-level wise guys and the cops who chase them. Luckily, both sides of the justice equation get equal treatment in Stella's gritty prose.
When a loan goes south, a bit player with a big ego hires a couple of goons to shake down a hapless barber. This sets in motion the man's undoing, as Jimmy Bench-Press soon has the man's voluptuous girlfriend enthralled and double-crossing him. Meanwhile, the cops on the case, new to each other, recovering from bruises in their personal lives, set the wheels in motion that bring the roof down around the scam. But this doesn't do justice to Stella's wickedly funny and blunt prose. This book is not for the faint of heart, but it will reward readers with a thirst to see an honest portrait of cops and robbers.
Rating:  Summary: Couldn't put it down! Review: Yikes! What a character! Jimmy Mangino (aka "Jimmy Bench-Press") is a two-time loser just out of the joint. He's an earner for the Vignieri crime family and this time round he wants his "button" and he's not going to let anything or anybody get in his way. Jimmy is a completely amoral character and watching him maneuver his way through the world of organized crime (extortion, pornography and murder) is like watching a train wreck happen -- it's ugly but you just can't take your eyes off it. Stella's dialogue is what distinguishes him from other writers in the genre . . . it's gritty, brutal, funny and real and it brings all his characters to life. Great read, you just can't put it down.
|