Heroes in the Dark

Western film star Jack Rawlins is recruited by his agent, on behalf of an anonymous client, to attend parties and spy on his fellow Hollywood actors and directors. The job will involve Rawlins in a scheme to incite public scandals among Hollywood royalty for the purpose of destroying their careers and, ultimately, bringing the entire movie industry under the control of a shadowy political organization run by wealthy industrialists.

His targets in Story 1: The Cigar Store Indian are Fatso Carbuncle, an overweight comedian who is accused of rape after a raucous hotel party, and Chesterfield Catgut, a British music hall star who plays a ragged but comically clever tramp. Also appearing in the story are the media mogul William Handball Rust and his air-headed but kindhearted mistress, the wannabe film star Darlian Mavis.

Heroes in the Dark is a sharp-witted retelling of actual movie industry scandals, with the names and events changed just enough to puzzle and intrigue the reader. It's light on its feet, a bit stagy, with a screwball cast set among shadowy events that parallel contemporary themes--specifically, the conquest of popular culture by powerful financial and political cabals.