Bye Bye Baby by Max Allan Collins

Bye Bye Baby is another great novel in the Nathan Heller series by Max Allan Collins. When we first met Nathan Heller in True Detective it was the early 1930s. Through the years he has worked a lot of famous cases. Now he is on the scene with the lovely, vivacious Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn is an old friend and calls Nathan to help her with a little job. She wants her phone bugged. She is having a lot of trouble with her studio, Fox, and she wants to protect herself. Heller’s favor for a friend turns into much more. This book reads like a Who’s Who from the period. Heller deals with Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sinatra, Hugh Hefner, John and Robert Kennedy, and many others.

One of Collins’ strengths is his ability to throw lots of celebrities into a book without stretching too much credulity. Of course Heller has to bed Marilyn and at least two other women. This should surprise no one who has read the Heller novels. Heller falls into the category of men who have slept with both Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe. If the book is to be believed then he shares that honor with the Kennedy boys.

Bye Bye Baby is a sympathetic look at Monroe. She is truly a tragic figure and her treatment at the hands of the movie studios and the Kennedy brothers was shameful. Collins tries, and succeeds, to navigate his way in this book between the pro and anti Kennedy camps. Perhaps the most interesting thing of all is the real humanity of the characters. That is one of the trademarks of the Heller novels. The celebrities are not just here to catch our interest, they have a realness about them. So who killed Marilyn Monroe? Was it suicide, an accidental overdose, the Kennedys, or someone else. You will just have to get the book and find out.

Flying Blind by Max Allan Collins (A Nathan Heller Novel)

Once again Nathan Heller is on the case. This time his job is to protect Amelia Earhart from anonymous threats that she has received. Of course that is just the tip of the iceberg. Naturally Heller becomes romantically entangled with the famous aviatrix. Later Heller becomes involved with an attempt to uncover the sinister government plot behind Earhart's mission. Finally he goes undercover in Saipan to try and verify rumours that two American pilots are being held as prisoner by the Japanese.

I have enjoyed reading throught the Heller books. This one feels like it is the mot strained of all the books. There seems to be a lot of unecessary filler. Long, uninteresting conversations about the nature of the plane, the route taken by Earhart, and other scenes drag on for page after page without adding anything to the actual story. As always with a Nathan Heller book there is plenty of intrigue, sex, and smart-mouthed comments from the main character.

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The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins (A Nathan Heller Novel)

Another great Nate Heller mystery. After Pearl Harbor Nate Heller and his buddy Barney Ross get drunk, lie about their ages and join the Marines. They end up on Guadalcanal. Suffering from malaria Heller is pinned down while on patrol. Ross is wounded as are several others. Heller suffers battle fatigue and is honorably discharged after he recovers. After he is discharged he has to reacquaint himself with a case that he had worked on years before.

This one is a little more raw than the prior two. The novel has a lot of threads, Heller fighting on Guadalcanal. Heller investigating mob connections to unions in the late 30s. Heller dealing with both of those issues as he recovers from malaria he contracted on Guadalcanal. The threads interweave themselves throughout the book. Like all of the books it is well written, lots of fun, plenty of historical figures, and at least two conspiracy theories.


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True Crime by Max Allan Collins (A Nathan Heller Novel)

Nathan Heller is back. This time a routine case following a wife who may be unfaithful leads him into the Dillinger shooting. All the players from the period are here: Purvis, Dillinger, Nitti, as well as Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Alan Karpis, and the Barker gang. Lots of fun and some beautiful molls along the way.

It's often hard to give reviews dealing with crime and mystery stories without giving too much away. Let's just say that there are a lot of surprises along the way for Mr. Heller. Of course he also gets to bed some beautiful gals along the way, so it's not all bad.

The book is very enjoyable. Collins really knows how to get the feel of the Chicago of the 1930s

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True Detective by Max Allan Collins

First novel in the Nathan Heller series. Heller is a plainclothes detective on the Chicago police force. The year is 1932. Capone has just been taken down by Elliot Ness and is await appeal. The World’s Fair is coming to Chicago. In the middle of all of the young Heller is picked up by two of Mayor Cermack’s favorite detectives. They are on their way to roust Frank Nitti, the man who has taken over Capone’s business. At least that is what they tell Heller. The two detectives shoot Nitti and try to make it look like he was carrying a gun. This was a hit put out by the mayor. Heller saves Nitti’s life by calling for an ambulance.

Disgusted by the corruption on the police force Heller quits and opens his own private detective agency. His childhood friend, the boxer Barney Ross, gives him a place to stay. Heller is off to make his way in the world. Before the novel is over he has worked the World’s Fair, tangled with mobsters, slept with a couple of beautiful women, and watched as an assassin “misses” his chance to kill the newly elected President Roosevelt and instead shoots and kills Mayor Cermack.

This novel sets the tone for the Heller novels. The detective likes to think of himself as a jaded cynic. However he is constantly coming out doing the right thing, if not always in the right way. Tough as nails with a smart mouth Heller is the classic hardboiled, noir detective.