Throwing 7's

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Although Hamill's second Bobby Emmet novel (after Three Quarters) is not without a measure of charm, its brutality at times can be hard to take. Bobby's improbably noxious lawyer, Izzy Gleason, looks to be the fall guy for the murder of a married couple. Eddie and Sally McCoy had the misfortune to resist moving out of their rent-controlled apartment in a building that is the proposed site for the terminal to a New York City offshore gambling casino--and Izzy is the attorney for the building's owner. Ex-cop Bobby, now a P.I., owes Izzy a favor and must strive to clear him. As he does, three religious leaders operate a lucrative gambling operation for purely humanitarian purposes, and gorgeous women--including Bobby's wildly wealthy ex-wife, a tennis star and a confused nun--throw themselves at him. Hamill (who pens the "Show People" column in the New York Daily News) sometimes allows noir posturing to trump good sense: If a woman is awakened by a killer at 3:57 a.m., would she really be wearing mascara that could smear and make her eyes "look like little muddy graves"? Would a man with a gun shoved into his mouth really contemplate how "only a killer wears gloves in July"? Still, Hamill has a knack for unflinching scenes of extreme brutality, and he makes an effort to humanize his hero, dwelling on Bobby's weekend, divorced-dad relationship with his daughter. Some readers may feel that the novel's excesses are morally redeemed by Bobby's trenchant good-guy posture; others may find the hero too one-dimensional to be convincing. (Feb.)

Kirkus Reviews

A routine suspenser in which New York Daily News columnist Hamill pits his superhero against greed, corruption, and various other forces of evil. They never had a chance, those forces. Bobby Emmet-a cop when encountered in his debut (Three Quarters, 1998) and now a p.i.-is not only smart and tough, but he's also a figure of extraordinary magnetism. One way or another, everybody is drawn to him. Bad guys, such as double-dealing tycoon Sam Kronk or Mafia-connected Moe Daggert, go out of their way to placate Bobby; three of New York's most influential religious leaders try to hire him; and no woman can be in the same room with this "absolutely gorgeous" guy without wanting to seduce him. There's the poor young (and sexy but pious) novitiate, for instance, who, tempted by Bobby, sends her vocation off on vacation. The case itself this time is about an elaborate scheme to bring legalized casino gambling to New York, a scheme that would net billions for anyone who makes it work. There are competing schemers, however, an array varied enough to wrong-foot even Bobby from time to time. Is their plotting and counterplotting related to a series of "purpose"murders? And are these murders somehow connected to a bizarre collection of human bones hidden in the home of one of the suspects? Bobby gets involved at the behest of sleazy Izzy Gleason, the scalawag lawyer who despite his ill-repute was once, for Bobby, a significant friend in court. In turn, Bobby enlists his brother, his daughter, his ex-wife and even her husband in a family effort to bring down "Number One," the master criminal whose dark motivation seems to have rampaged way past simple greed. Bobby and company will eventually triumph, ofcourse, and the dark undercurrent then gets a lengthy explanation- which some may even grasp. Excessive beatings, gratuitous beddings, and a Grand Guignol finish so absurd it's funny. .