My Gun Has Bullets (Charlie Willis Book 1)

This book was written by a television writer of broadcast network programs. His writing style reflects his deft hand with funny dialogue and insights, which makes it very readable. The book was written in the 1990s, when network broadcast was king and streaming service had not yet been invented, so the setting and circumstances are now a bit nostalgic. Still hilarious send up of the cutthroat competition of network programming and ratings, likening it to a business into which the Mob could muscle its way. If you are over 35 and can remember cliched taglines, Very SpeciaL Episodes, you will get a lot of chuckles out of this book. The lead character is still today an sympathetic and appealing Everyman who finds himself suddenly dealing with the world of tv showbiz. many characters in this book are disgusting human beings but their foibles and peccadillos are dealt with in humorous fashion. A quick mind-lightening read.

The Good Stuff:This is a hilarious satire of the television industry with a little murder and mayhem thrown in. Much of the humor is 'tongue-in-cheek' while other scenes are just plain slapstick.My favorite part was Charlie getting shot by a little old lady trying to get to the Neiman Marcus sale before it was over.Let's hope the mob never gets that involved with television; although, if they decided to air more episodes of "The Sopranos", I wouldn't cry over it.I could see this book in my mind as I read it, like watching a movie. Mr. Goldberg is an extremely talented writer.The Bad Stuff:I only caught one small error in plot development. Towards the end, there is a sentence: "This was the first time Charlie Willis had ever heard Delbert Skaggs' voice." This wasn't true as he had previously bugged a phone and heard a voice which was identified by another party as Delbert Skaggs.There were a few errors in this Kindle edition. It was just the usual conversion typos, such as inserting an 'll' for an 'n'. Nothing too distracting, though.I do think it would have been better had it focused more on Charlie and developed his character in a deeper manner. It skipped around quite a bit at times, then backtracked. I'm just not as fond of that method.Overall: Truly funny book. Anyone who understands and enjoys satire, while thinking television is sometimes overrated, will enjoy this book.Rating: Rated R for language and sexual situations.Length: Novel - 7050 Locations

I try to be as professional as possible when it comes to writing my reviews. I do hope that will be the case for most of this review. When trying to describe this book in one word the only one I can think of is Dumb. In my opinion this is the worst book I have ever read, and it was almost impossible to finish. My stubbornness and pride kept me trucking through but I almost wish I would have stopped all together, I also wish it was possible to give this a negative star rating.I have read Lee Goldberg before and enjoyed the ones I have read. He writes the Adrian Monk books based off the television series and he does a good job. The characters are just as engaging as they were in the show, and the plots are well developed and funny. Since I have enjoyed these novels in the past, when I saw that this was a Kindle freebee I jumped on it. It turns out I over paid for this book.The main plot line is about a former cop, Charlie Willis, who was shot by televisions Miss Agatha, a detective similar to Miss Marple. The network is so afraid they will loose their best show because of this event that they offer Charlie his own show if he keeps quiet as to what happens. Of course he is dumb enough to take it and things around the studio start going horribly wrong. I have no idea what Hollywood is really like so the murder, blackmail, sex and general low morality may be spot on. I am not a prude at all and have read some risqué scenes in the past. That being said, some of the sexual encounters in this book are well beyond the line of common decency and I think the book would have been better without it. I really tried to like this book, and hoped it would eventually get better. For me it was a big disappointment and not one I would recommend to anyone. It even has caused me to wonder if I will continue to read the Monk books because of the disappointment I feel for Lee Goldberg after reading this book. To anyone who is a fan and enjoyed this book I am sorry to be so harsh and critical but I have to be true and honest about my feelings.

This book was okay but not as good as his Eve Ronin or Fox and O'Hare books. If you like broad farce, then this book is up your alley.

Really enjoyed this book, and looking forward to reading the second one in the series. I had picked these two books up to read later - but then I got stuck sitting for more than two hours with my car in the shop. So I downloaded "My Gun has Bullets" just to read a chapter or two to see if it was any good - ended up reading about 40% of the book while waiting and was a little put out when they called my name to tell me that my car was ready.The story might be a bit dated for some people - what with the names of older television stars, and parodies of past television shows. Being in my 50's, I'm probably the right age to appreciate this novel. Hopefully the second book is as good that this one.The Kindle book does have some typographical error - for instance, there were a few times when the word 'fun' was used when 'full' should have been - and a few more issues like that, but nothing major.

I reviewed another of Lee Goldberg's books, Watch Me Die, a while ago. I didn't realise that as well as writing novels, Goldberg had also been involved in TV scriptwriting, with shows such as Monk, Diagnosis Murder and Hunter under his belt. His Amazon profile is so tongue in check, I'm not sure whether he actually has two Edgar Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America or not.Anyway, I so enjoyed Watch Me Die, that I thought I'd try another of his books. I didn't want to read TV spinoffs of Monk and Diagnosis Murder, so I looked at his other novels and found My Gun Has Bullets. Intrigued by the title, I got the book....This is what I found.It's a book best described as a rude and raucous romp through Hollywood. The protagonist is former Beverly Hills Police Officer Charlie Willis. When he was still a proper police officer, Willis pulled over a speeding Rolls Royce driven by Esther Radcliffe, geriatric star of the TV series Miss Agatha. Radcliffe's reaction to this slight was to shoot Willis and drive off! The Pinnacle studio are terrified of the consequences of Miss Agatha being cancelled and so buy Willis off by offering him a lucrative TV contract as detective Derek Thorne in his own show My Gun Has Bullets.Life in Hollywood is far from straightforward though. Organised crime boss Daddy Crofoot has made a big investment in entertainment and concerned about poor ratings, send a hitman Delbert Skaggs to take over programming and sort out the ratings problem. Skaggs' approach is simple - kill the stars of rival TV shows to boost ratings. Charlie is one of the first victims of the plot, shooting an extra dead because the prop gun turned out to be a real gun with real bullets. As he becomes the focus of Hollywood media frenzy, Charlie decides he's going to be like his TV character Thorne and track down whoever is responsible for an escalating tide of TV murders. He knows he can do this because his gun has bullets!This book is firmly tongue in cheek, with a strong element of farce, which is reminiscent of Tom Sharpe's early writing. It's rude and crude with occasional but gratuitous sex and violence, so if you're easily offended or want your books to be completely realistic, it's not for you. If like the like the idea of comic characters and laugh out loud crime with more than just a touch of absurdity, this is definitely for you.

This is the story of Charlie Willis, who after being shot by a TV star - Radcliffe, star of Miss Agatha, is offered the part of a super cop in a Hollywood TV series to keep quiet about the shooting so that the hit series, Agatha will continue. We join Charlie on the soundstage of 'My Gun Has Bullets'. The story takes many twists and turns from there - the plot teeters on the verge of the ridiculous but is always rescued by Goldberg's pithy dialogue and tight control of the plot. The writing is obviously that of an experienced TV hand - you almost feel that if you were a TV insider, you'd recognise real people lurking in the background of some of the characters. Despite its adult themes, the story always entertained and after a slow start it picks up pace rapidly.As usual for a Goldberg book, the characters - even when you know they are verging on the ridiculous- always come across as well drawn and deeply written - so much so that within a few pithy lines - you know where the characters have come from. The dialogue is pithy, crisp and often full of wisecracks. The plot powers along, dragging you along with its momentum.Warning for adult content - vivid description of violence, sex and street language.

Really got into this book right away, the writing is good, Lee Goldberg keeps you entertained throughout and whilst the plot does get a bit farcical and some of the characters are so funny and over-the-top, you can almost believe it could all happen!At times whilst reading I thought of 'Get Shorty' by Elmore Leonard and whilst there are similarities this is different enough to stand on its own.

Still reading this book not a bad story but have been reading it for a long time .it just doesn't have a hook to draw you in but I'm slowly getting there. A bit too much info on TV stations couldn't figure out who was who,but the story now taking shape

This is the 5th Lee GOLDBERG book I’ve read in row. As far as I’m concerned he can’t put a foot wrong. Book is twisted, funny and fast paced. Reminded me in places of “Be Cool” my favourite Elmore Leonard book. I highly recommend this title