Hollywood, May 1962:
Marilyn Monroe, the ultimate goddess of the silver screen, is at the peak of her popularity, internationally famous, universally admired by women and desired by men. But she’s also famously insecure and temperamental and is being pilloried in the press for delaying the production of Something’s Got to Give. When the head of Twentieth Century Fox threatens to cancel her contract, Monroe hires “PI to the stars” Nathan Heller to tap her phones and record calls that might prove to be important if there's a lawsuit.
Less than three months later, Monroe is dead from an overdose and, officially, a suicide. But Heller isn’t buying it. He knows that in the weeks before, the star was anything but suicidal. He knows, too, about her affair with JFK, about the secret connections between the Kennedys and the Mob…and about Bobby Kennedy’s blood feud with Jimmy Hoffa. In short, Heller knows too much to accept this bum rap on a beautiful, gifted woman loved by the whole world…including Nathan Heller.
So he investigates, though his efforts might enrage some very famous, very powerful, very dangerous people. But they can’t keep Heller from finding out the astounding truth behind Marilyn Monroe’s untimely demise…
Hardcover:
From a foxhole on Guadalcanal (shared with Barney Ross) to the glitzy underworld of Hollywood in the '40s, Nate Heller fights his memories and the Mob.
Something happened at the Canal, something Heller's blocking out. What he can't block, though, is the wound he received--the "million-dollar wound," the one that got him home. Back in the States, and back in Chicago, he becomes involved once again with Frank Nitti during the gang boss' last violent days, and with the gangland attempts to take over the movie unions.
The homefront is every bit as violent as the war-torn Pacific, and even the solace of Sally Rand can do nothing to ease Heller, who is haunted by the death of a friend in Guadalcanal, and surrounded by the mayhem of gangland murders.
"Collins has produced a pair of gripping and resonant novels. The Million-Dollar Wound is his best yet." -- Detroit News
"Recommended . . . Nathan Heller is the perfect private eye, in the right place, at the right time . . ." -- New York Daily News
"Gangster buffs will love this." -- Tony Hillerman
"A stunning job." -- Denver Post
$1.99 in the Kindle Store now!The complete Nathan Heller series back in print in paperback, audiobook, and Kindle eBook
