I know Kaminsky is a MWA Grand Master, but this book was really disappointing. The story takes place in 1944 and involves Cary Grant working as a spy for British Intelligence hunting down Nazis in Los Angeles. OK. Ridiculous. But, my big complaint is that Kaminsky doesn't let a single bit of his research go to waste. Not one bit. Take this paragraph, for example, as sleuth Toby Peters eats his lunch while reading the newspaper:"Twenty minutes later and eighty cents lighter, I knew that Japanese girls were now wearing slacks or mompei instead of kimonos; was reminded that USC was going to play undefeated Washington in the Rose Bowl in a few hours; that Alley Oop, stone ax in hand, was lost in time; that Scorchy Smith was being transferred to combat duty; that the Red Army, under Ukranian General Nikolai Vatotin, was within twenty-seven miles of the Polish border; and that the Royal Air Force had bombed Berlin for the ninth straight day."Seriously? If I wanted to read a newspaper from 1944, I would read a newspaper from 1944. Not one bit of that has anything to do with the plot. And, if that was the only time Kaminsky did something like that, I'd keep my mouth shut about it...I've read some of his earlier books and found them charming. Even Cary Grant can't make this one charming.
