I was lucky enough to get an ALC of this book from NetGalley and Kelly Rinne Audio.

The multiple narrators of this story did a good job distinguishing the difference between the characters. My favorite was the man that narrated Elvis’ character. He did a good job of mimicking his accent.

The alt-noir telling was a little odd to me. It was hard for me to imagine all these characters connected. Considering some died before and some died after the timeframe of this story. It’s interesting to imagine what would have been if Elvis was never a famous musician and if JFK wasn’t assassinated.

This was a fun interesting different reality. Wonder how things would have been different if it would have happened that way.

Read book and listened to audiobook. Enjoyed more than print book, incredible narrators. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am a historical fiction fan and I knew that while this book "Jimmy Dean's Last Dance" portrayed known figures such as Marilyn, Elvis and Jimmy Dean, they were much fictionalized versions of themselves. I thought I'd really enjoy it. The story begins with Marilyn passing away in her home and Jimmy calling up his buddy Elivis to help him figure out what happened because he believes she didn't kill herself.. The writing itself was fine and if the story had been about new fiction characters I think I would have enjoyed it more. The real characters names imposed on such drastically different events felt really weird to me. It fell too far into a parody for me to truly enjoy this one. However that might be all on me and I can see where many readers would enjoy this.

1962. Jimmy Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and a host of famous names get together in this story.
First thing you must do is ignore what history has told us of their lives, truth actually plays no part in this story, it's all make-believe.
Marilyn is dead, her friend Jimmy believes she has been murdered and starts on finding out the truth.
This is where the real adventure begins!
Jimmy calls up an old friend and business partner, a truck driver named Elvis. What they discover leads them in to a world of danger and intrigue involving some of the most powerful people in the land
Never having heard of the "alternative history" genre I do believe I am a convert, You really can't ask more of a story than that it be entertaining, interesting and fully engrossing, I will certainly be looking out for more great stories by A.K. Alliss.
Great narration, Johnny Heller has always been a favourite of mine, I'm not so familiar with the past works of the others but in this case, I enjoyed their work

3.5 stars

This fictional story is a work of alternative history set in 1962 when (real life) Hollywood actor Jimmy Dean was already deceased. The author A.K. Alliss notes that the novel contains many splits from the real world timeline in the areas of music, movies, people, and events 'to highlight the spirit of the early sixties and the celebrity and political culture of the time.' So readers who like to reconcile historical fiction with real life are out of luck. 🙂

*****

As the story opens Jimmy Dean and his pal Elvis Presley are in Mexico, having been sent by a Vegas gangster called Dominic Frazini to bring back a shipment of money and weed. Things go badly wrong and the partners decide to go home, lie low, and try to keep off Frazini's radar.

Skip ahead five years and Elvis is a truck driver in Mississippi, and Jimmy is a small-time actor in Hollywood. Jimmy is friends with Marilyn Monroe, a troubled actress whose private life has been the subject of catty gossip for years.

Over drinks one evening, an anxious Marilyn tells Jimmy the studio is trying to fire her....but she won't say why. The next morning Marilyn is found dead in her house, and the authorities announce that she killed herself. Jimmy is skeptical about the alleged suicide and decides to investigate. He finds Marilyn's diary, but is soon mugged and beaten by thugs who take the journal, and the message is clear: 'Stop diggin' kid, or you'll end up dead.'

Jimmy knows he needs help and calls his friend Elvis in Mississippi, saying he's in trouble and it's worse than Mexico. Elvis immediately leaves for Los Angeles, and Jimmy and Elvis's adventures begin.

Jimmy is chased by a Secret Service agent sent by President Jack Kennedy, with whom Marilyn was having an affair; and Elvis is abducted en route to L.A. and brought to Dominic Frazini, who says Elvis owes him for Mexico, and he has to kill Jimmy. Elvis can't help but think, 'Why now?'

As Jim and Elvis look into Marilyn's death they're repeatedly followed and attacked and even find a Hollywood bigwig murdered in his home. Finally, a man named 'Hank' - purportedly with the CIA - grabs Jim and Elvis, and says they'll be framed for murder if they don't assassinate President Kennedy.

There's a lot going on in the book with blackmail, murder, and suggestions of a huge conspiracy involving government agencies and the mob. There are also appearances by Dean Martin, George Cukor, Harvey Weinstein, a man called Lee, a woman named Priscilla, Fidel Castro, and more. Jim and Elvis know they're in WAY over their heads, and will need to be clever and lucky to survive.

I enjoyed the story, which is action-packed, with break-ins, kidnappings, brawling, wrestling, martial arts, shooting guns, and more. There's also plenty of humor, and a little bit of nooky as well.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Johnny Heller, Neil Hellegers, Bill Lord, Joya Colucci Lord, Jo Anna Perrin, and Anneliese Rennie, all of whom do a good job.

Thanks to Netgalley, A.K. Alliss, and Spectrum Publishing for a copy of the book.

In all I thought this was a pretty good listen. The alternate reality gave this story a little extra ooomph to my ears, and that fact that the characters all played a sort of alternate version of themselves really helped. It was an enjoyable listen. The narration was on point and made me continue to listen until the end. My only draw back were some editing issues, but I am sure those should be worked out by the final product.

You must go into this book ignoring known history of Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Dean, Elvis and the Kennedy. This is more of a fan fiction mystery over the death of Marilyn and Jimmy Dean searching for answers… with the help of his truck driving buddy from Mississippi - Elvis. They get in way over their head.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC/Audio and Spectrum Publishing

Thank you to NetGalley and to Kelly Rinne, Stopwatch publishing for an ARC of this Audiobook.

This was a fun one for me. It is an alternate look at history, and I really liked it. I am a fan of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley so this was a really fun one for me.

The Narrators were great as well. I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series!

This was a book that is very different from things I have read in a long time. You can tell by the title that James Dean is a player, and you can tell by the cover that Marilyn Monroe has a part, but also featured are John F Kennedy and, Elvis Aaron Presley.

Here is a quick look at the plot, James and Marilyn meet and become fast friends. It isn't long before Marilyn is found dead in her home and Jimmy feels it wasn't a suicide. What he uncovers is a plot that involves the President so he calls in a trucker, Elvis Presley to help him solve what happened to Marilyn. The whole book is an alternate look at a different history/timeline than the one that we all know. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Jimmy Dean's Last Dance by AK Alliss
Hollywood Mysteries, Book 1
Narrated by Johnny Heller, Neil Hellegers, Bill Lord, Jo Anna Perrin, Anneliese Rennie

Los Angeles, 1962.

Notice that date? In this noir-ish alternate world, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe are friends and when Marilyn dies, James gets his buddy Elvis Presley to help him investigate her death. Right off the bat I was saying, wait a second, none of this computes! Despite being able to find (fake) pictures of these people together, they never actually met in real life, from what I can tell. So once I let go of what really happened and when it really happened, I was able to get into this audiobook narration. It was fun looking up real events and people that were mentioned during my listen.

So many famous names are dropped! The world is turned sideways with this story of James and Elvis being injected into very famous events. The voice acting is a huge part of the story for me. I was listening to James Dean and Elvis Presley (well, not really, but it felt like it)! I could see these two being friends who get themselves into more trouble than they could get into by themselves.

If you want to mess with your knowledge of history, this story will do it for you. Just don't take a history test off of it because you'll flunk, big time. It was fun looking up "James Dean and Elvis Presley" and seeing all the fake pictures out there in internet land.

Thank you to Kelly Rinne/Stopwatch and NetGalley for this ARC.