Type of bind: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Penguin Audio
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
Quantity: 7
Printing Date: January 15, 2008
Publishing house: Penguin Audio
Sale Popularity Level: 1092200
Studio: Penguin Audio
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Rated by buyers -
While I've really enjoyed previous efforts by Stuart Woods, this one wasn't up to expectations. It was like he had a number of ideas for short stories, but since the contract was for a novel, he put several ideas together whether they meshed well or not. The plot jumps from post-World War II movie making to the hearings of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee to lesbian to a murder mystery. Characters that seem to be major players fade out of the plot. Some come back much later, but others either don't reappear or do so as bit players. I understand having several plot threads, but these don't come together to make any sort of tapestry. It by no means is boring, however, and is by no means the worst book I've read. It simply isn't up to the standards Woods has set for himself in past efforts.
Rated by buyers 
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Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R325HRUSZE7WHJ AS YOU CAN SEE, this book is getting mixed reviews? Why? Well, it has to do with an understanding of history. WHO would like the book? In this video review I'll tell you. Hint: There IS a very good audience!
Rated by buyers 
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This book is so dull it's extraordinary it got published. SW is writing to write, without character development or narrative development. If one is to already have know Rick Barron from other books, Beverly Hills Dead would not wet ones appetite to read others. I was so stun by the abrupt ending I thought pages had been deleted.
Rated by buyers -
As with many other reviews in this section, I think this book was a loser. Little plot, little character development, lame who-dunnit with no clues to lead you to the real killer--many clues were dead end--characters briefly introduce and then dropped out of the text. I'm glad I got it at the library and didn't have to pay for it.
Rated by buyers 
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Readers will be well advised to read The The Prince of Beverly Hills first, because this is Stuart Woods' much awaited sequel.
Both stories are set in Hollywood and New York City in the 1940s, and feature characters in the movie industry. WWII had ended and the Cold War was beginning. Anti-Communist fever was sweeping the nation, and the U.S. Congress's House Un-American Activities Commission (HUAC) was holding hearings--hearings that destroyed several people. "Better Red than Dead" was a popular slogan, and the Daily Worker was the Communist newspaper. The big guns were Joseph McCarthy and J. Edgar Hover.
For those of us who are old enough to remember the 1950s, BEVERLY HILLS DEAD is an interesting read. I fault Woods for not putting more background information about American anti-Communist feelings, the HUAC hearings, the witch hunts, Senator McCarthy, and not mentioning Hoover. Younger readers will not understand the nation's mood and the significance of the hearings, thus they will miss important nuances of the story.
This is not an action thriller. But it is an interesting story, especially if you understand the mood of the country in the 1940s and early 1950s. Woods includes a well done gay theme, again typical Hollywood.
So, for you young readers, do a little research on the House Un-American Activities Commission and Joseph McCarthy before reading, it will help you understand the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed both books.
Lee Boyland, author of The Rings of Allah, and Behold, an Ashen Horse.
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