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Freelance music journalist Mick Sever has just accepted a job to go to St Barts to interview music legend Danny Murtz. During his career Danny has produced many records that went platinum and made him quite a lot of money. But there were always whispers about Danny's success. He's been accused of stealing music from other writers, making some small changes, and then calling the songs his own. Danny has been sued but has won each suit. Now there are more whispers. Living in New York City, Danny has been dating younger women and a few of them have disappeared. The latest disappearance is an American Idol singer and the last place she was known to be was at Danny's home. Danny likes to drink and combine liquor with drugs and that makes his memory sketchy at best. When he finds the American Idol singer dead in his home, beaten and then thrown off the staircase, he doesn't remember killing her but figures he did it because, after all, he has killed his young female friends before. What's a rich music legend to do? What he always does when he's forced to kill his girlfriends, he calls his lawyer/manager Harvey Schwartz to get rid of the body. Harvey does what he's paid to do but things aren't quite so simple this time. People are actually looking for the American Idol singer so Danny thinks it's best to go on vacation. He packs up his lawyer, his secretary, Nancy, and a few of his best bodyguards and off they go to St Barts. So now Mick Sever is also off to St Barts to interview Danny for a music magazine. He also plans to ask Danny some pointed questions about his missing girlfriends. Danny knows it's going to be dangerous but he doesn't expect the threats to start while he's still home where a car nearly runs him down. Mick has problems in St Barts too when his rented car blows up and then he's almost forced off a steep and dangerous cliff. Could all this have to do with the fact that Danny and his lawyer discovered that the last person the American Idol singer called just before she was killed was Mick? One of the best parts of ST BARTS BREAKDOWN is the paradise island of St Barts. Author Don Bruns made this island one of the main characters in this book. It's an island where nothing bad ever happens and the police make sure of this by sweeping things under the rug. The island needs rich tourists, and if the tourists think that there's crime on the island they will not return. Danny is quite the sleaze ball. He's not only a murderer but he also abuses everyone who works for him, but truth be told, his employees are not as pure as the driven snow either. In other words, they all deserve each other. Mick is a little slow on the uptake. He's almost killed twice before he leaves for St Barts and he keeps telling himself that the near accidents were coincidental. Characters that are that dumb, while they are supposed to be intelligent, just bother me. Mick isn't even sure that his life is really in danger until after the fourth or fifth 'accident.' Talk about walking around with blinders on. While on St Barts the readers are time and time again shown Danny drinking a lot, mixing it with drugs, and threatening his employees. For quite a while the story went nowhere. Slowly we are introduced to some other characters on St Barts including another one of Danny's girlfriends who is really a cop, and yet another woman who wants to kill him. By the time the end came along I was almost ready for a nap, as I was kept only marginally awake by the story. I actually think that Bruns also got a little sleepy and simply swiftly ended the story with little thought to what would happen to his characters. I've read another book by this author and found it a funny and interesting story. But ST BARTS BREAKDOWN, even after having a great set-up and a wonderful locale, was a real disappointment at the end. Read the book for the descriptions of the paradise island but bypass it if you're looking for an engrossing story with a good ending.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, February 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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