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The Jazz Bird | 
| Author: Craig Holden
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $18.78
You Save: $6.22 (25%)
New (2) Used (4) from $5.56
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 744586
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.1 x 1.2
ASIN: B0000C2W5W
Publication Date: December 26, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book
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Amazon.com Review
After three taut, well-crafted contemporary mysteries, Craig Holden turns here to the 1920s, evoking a period rich in glamour and drama in a powerful and elegiac story told with consummate skill. Young Charlie Taft, a prosecutor who's the son of a former president and chief justice, doesn't need to solve the murder of Imogene Remus, the quixotic and exotic wife of Cincinnati bootlegger George Remus. George has already confessed to the crime, and his conviction is all but assured. But as Charlie delves deeper into the tangled history of the stunning socialite who defied her wealthy family to marry Remus and went to extraordinary lengths to free him from prison, he begins to doubt whether the bootlegger is insane, as he claims, or the real victim of his wife's betrayal. Holden brings a fascinating era in American history to life through the creation of complex, multidimensional characters who haunt the reader long after the last page is turned. This is a tour de force from a writer who gets better with every novel. --Jane Adams
Product Description
An exquisitely written novel of love and betrayal, of money and power, set at the apex of that time of glitz and innocence known as the Jazz Age CINCINNATI, 1927... Lawyer George Remus became the country's biggest bootlegger, grossing over $80 million until his arrest. Upon his release from prison, he learns that his beautiful wife, Imogene, has left him and that his bank accounts are empty. On the morning of their divorce, he runs her car off the road in the middle of rush hour in Eden Park and shoots her to death. Shocked and fascinated by this horrible crime, the country gears up for a sensational trial pitting the man known as "the king of the bootleggers" against Chief Prosecutor Charlie Taft, the youngest son of the former president. The trial is a national spectacle, a lens focused on the fabulous rise and fall of the Remus empire and the tragic love story within it, and an attempt to answer some tantalizing questions: What actually happened to the fortune? What are the motives of the federal agent who brought Remus down? What complex emotions and desires, leading ultimately to the ruin of three men, really lie within the heart of the woman known as the Jazz Bird? Based on a true story, The Jazz Bird is at once a love story, a crime novel, and the tale of the courtroom battle between two powerful men whose respective futures hang in the balance.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Some much promise; so little delivery December 27, 2006
The critics at Mysterious Bookshop love Craig Holden and I am still trying to figure out why. As in 'Four Corners of the Night' there is a big plot twist at the end. However, in both cases we are forced to believe that other characters in the book would not notice the proverbial 'elephant in the room' which ruins the twist for several weeks if not months.
Make no mistake, Holden is a fine writer and is especially good with his wording and with well drawn images. However, his plot twists defy belief. In this case, it mars an excellent set of courtroom scenes, as well as a 'you are there' tour of Cincinnati in the 1920's.
I'm swearing off Craig Holden. He's not a bad writer, but he hinges his books on plot twists which stretch my credulity too far.
More ambitious, less entertaining February 25, 2006
The history and characters that went into The Jazz Bird were certainly deeper and well drawn. However, it was not nearly as entertaining as some of Holden's other novels, especially The Narcissist's Daughter. While the latter was a page-turner, I found myself somewhat bored by The Jazz Bird. The characters and story were more involved, but not nearly as interesting, and the timeline was confusing.
 AN UNGILDED CAGE May 27, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
THE JAZZ BIRD, based on a true story, but admittedly fictionalized to add dramatic voice, is a stunning example of good characterization if nothing else. Holden brings us realistic, tragic, and multi-layered characters in the story of a murder trial in which we know the defendant is guilty. But the background is complex and nothing is quite as it seems. At times Holden's plotting does get a little muddled, but by the end of the novel, you get a better understanding of George Remus and why he killed his enigmatic wife, Imogene. While the jumping around at times defuses the courtroom suspense, I was surprised by its ending, and the novel itself ends on a note that is not easily accepted.
Good, crisp writing, should enhance Holden's growing reputation.
 The Jazz Bird lays an egg... October 20, 2002
8 out of 16 found this review helpful
I have spent the last 3 months reading 4 dozen various mysteries and I have enjoyed every single one of them--until now. I found this book terribly confusing with the story jumping around between past and present and the assortment of characters. I thought that the character of Charlie Taft was very undeveloped and that he should develop a "passion" for the dead Imogene rather laughable. I could not understand why people had such sympathy for George Remus and was disappointed by the ending. Any book that I start, I force myself to finish. Many times I'm surprised halfway through. But I now wish I had bailed out on this book after a couple of chapters. It wasn't worth the time. I read in Holden's notes that he had two editors for this book. Perhaps that was a big part of the problem. This will certainly be my first and last Holden.
 Sweet Singing Imogene April 1, 2002
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is the first work by Craig Holden that I have read; it most certainly will not be the last. I am not familiar enough with the historical basis for this book, so I comment purely as a reader. "The Jazz Bird", is a wicked book, from a large cast of characters whose loyalty cannot be placed until the book's end, an immense fortune built by prohibition, and the co-star of the book Imogene.Imogene is one of the better female players that I have read in quite some time. If the character in the book bears any resemblance to who this woman truly was, there must be additional books written already, or more will certainly follow. The author reconstructs the 1920's with great detail, right down to noting the Rag Time Piano Music of Scott Joplin. If you recall the music, you may also remember the movie that brought it back when Paul Newman and Robert Redford gave classic performances in, "The Sting". This work is much darker than the movie I reference, but if the time period appeals to you, the book will as well. Prohibition parties where 100-dollar bills were under the plate of each guest, or perhaps dozens of new cars awaited the guests who stayed the night as gifts. Add to all of this Imogene, daughter of the privileged class who marries the largest rumrunner, systematically destroys all she was brought up to be a part of, and does it with either the greatest calculation, or the most grievous unintended consequence. The book is a classic roaring 20's tragedy that you know is going to happen but Craig Holden brings you there through a series of brilliant characters, and the most circuitous of routes.
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