preloader image

Fast Times, Big City

Fast Times, Big City

By: Shelly Frome
Publisher: BQB Publishing
Publication Date: February 27, 2024
ISBN: 979-8886330267
Reviewed by: Lily Andrews
Review Date: December 12, 2024

From prolific author Shelly Frome comes Fast Times, Big City, which delivers a whole gamut of emotions and an unreluctant hero who is plunged into an unfamiliar and dangerous world.

Set in the 1950s, the book follows Bud Palmer, a sports columnist for the Miami Herald. When his mother takes a Caribbean cruise with his dad, she asks her twenty-nine-year-old son to look out for her kid brother, Uncle Rick. Uncle Rick’s predisposition for landing into trouble was well known in the family. When Rick calls Bud, demanding his immediate presence, the sports writer meets up with his grifter uncle, who confesses to his murky entanglement of compulsive gambling with a nefarious Chicago group. They demand that Rick retrieve a valuable briefcase stolen from them by an innocent-looking woman or face dire consequences. Rick turns to Bud for help in tracking down the mysterious young lady and locating the case, a situation he reluctantly agrees to, owing to his familial obligations.

His plans to take his niece Katie to the Parrot Jungle for an eco-adventure now disrupted and still having no clue as to what he may be in for, Bud journeys to the Big Apple to find the target who dreams of becoming a famous actor like her idol Marilyn Monroe, hoping to get him and his uncle out of the woods. He is consequently thrown headfirst into the globules of New York City, bustling with life, art, music, and neon lights, but beneath the glitz, glamor, and refinement, Bud finds danger lurking at every corner.

Author Shelly Frome offers readers a perfect mélange of suspense, astonishing twists, and humor in sizeable bits that keep them invested throughout the story. Set against the fitting backdrop of an interesting period, Frome does a solid job of stirring things up by pitting characters against each other and providing thematic fulfillment on the absurdity of our existence, the destructive effects of money, and the vulnerability of human life. Bud is a charming character and a risk taker whose actions are vividly drawn and his temperament expressively written and realistic, and readers will enjoy cheering him on. The villains are unhinged and callous, and an equal match for the protagonist, sometimes pulling unlikely strings before he can figure things out, ultimately making this tale a compelling one.

Peppered with playful banter and light mirth, this novel wears complex emotional and aesthetic influences on its sleeve, tackling modern issues with precision and cadence. Nuanced interludes of Flugencio Batista, the general who took over power in Cuba in a military coup and the Cuban Revolution, are thoughtfully infused and surprisingly anchor the narrative.

Quill says: Fast Times, Big City by Shelly Frome is an accomplished urban crime thriller with much to savor for fans of this genre and does not disappoint.

For more information on Fast Times, Big City, please visit the author's website at: www.shellyfrome.com

Author Interview

Feathered Quill

Disclosure in Accordance with FTC Guidelines 16 CFR Part 255

Copyrights © 2023 Feathered Quill Reviews All Rights Reserved. | Designed & Developed by Unglitch.io