4.5 stars

Last Dance is a tautly written homage to film noir, a hardboiled detective story that will grip you by the throat and refuse to let go.

The detail to which Fleishman goes in describing the world of the book is absolutely engrossing and completely pulls you in to the underbelly of Los Angeles. Even the way that he structures sentences gives breath to his protagonist Sam Carver. I had not read the first book in this series when I picked this up, but it did not take long at all for me to get swept up in the action.

The only disappointment for me was that I guessed one of the pretty major twists pretty early on, but the main case had me guessing until the last minute. I tend more towards thrillers than crime fiction in my normal reading, but I might have to pick up some more detective stories in the New Year!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Blackstone Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest reivew!

Wow, NetGalley, thanks for that!

So very Los Angeles, in a good way! The first-person writing is intense and immediate, the characters and dialogue nearly perfect. Extra points for The Last Bookstore in downtown LA, all the wonderfully specific (accurate!) references!

I should've seen that it's a second book and I'm not sure how I feel about Sam Carver but I love the writing and will likely read more Fleishman.

This book is many things. It is a love ballad sung to Los Angeles. One of author Jeffrey Fleishman's characters makes films, all of which "are about loss," according to another character. So, too, this book -- it's about loss.

But above all else, Last Dance is a cracking good story. Sam Carver is not your typical detective. Indeed, none of his characters are typical. They are a complex, intelligent group of iconoclasts, including a ballerina, a choreographer, a fashion designer and a couple of spies.

The pace of the book is tense but not artificially so, as Carver unpicks the convoluted, international connections between his characters. There are two apparent-yet-suspicious suicides, a body stolen from a morgue, and a good bit of cross-jurisdictional competition and cooperation.

It is the writing, though, that sets this book apart -- sometimes almost metaphysical, as in: "We were raised in the church. We drifted from it, but we know the narrow space between the sacred and the profane."

Last Dance is as good as any noir out there, but so much more. Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advance readers copy.

I volunteered to read this book, through netgalley in exchange, for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. I enjoyed Sam Carver's character. This book mentions Berlin and it is set Los Angeles. The way they described Berlin makes you want to visit there. It had my attention from the very first page. The pacing of this thriller is great. TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ mentioning of RAPE, ALCOHOL, AND DRUG ABUSE. With every twist and every turn it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I never would have thought that character did it. You guys need to get this book to figure out who did it. This book will be in stores on November 10, 2020 for $25.99.

Great follow up sophomore novel in this series. Sam Carver is (sort of) recovered from his experiences with an obsessive serial killer and is ready to take on new cases. A murdered Russian ballerina leads him down all sorts of paths to solving the case with connections to Hollywood, the mob, and presidential election fraud.

I enjoyed this one just as much as the first book. I loved the hints of Dylan Cross from the first book and looking forward to more in the series!

The author is trying too hard to be a "noir" writer. He complicates almost every aspect of the story. It was a chore to get into this novel, and I tried more than once. It's just not for me, especially given the "eight hour" reading time!
You can't win them all. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.