Aaron Latham Riding With John Wayne

Riding With John Wayne

Aaron Latham

Simon & Schuster, May 2006, $26.00, 373 pp.

ISBN: 0743269799

Although Hollywood rarely makes cowboy movies anymore, they make an exception when they read Chick Goodnight's screenplay about his ancestor who was a Texas cowboy in the 1870's. Chick moves to Hollywood to work on the script with the beautiful director Jamie Stone. He lives with his cousin Sharon who asks him to hire her boyfriend, stunt director, Chris Crosby. It is only after he is hired that Chick learns Chris beats up Sharon.

Sharon, an aspiring actress, arranges an audition with the producer Buddy Dole, known to have sex with wannabe starlets in exchange for small parts in his films. She never comes home from her "interview"; later that night the police inform Chick that Sharon is the victim of a hit of run. Her parents and Chick don't believe it was an accident and his aunt and uncle ask him to investigate. He learns she had a later appointment with buddy but he can't rule Chris out because he was insanely jealous. On the set, somebody gives him a terrible beating to stop him from asking questions but that only make Chick more determined to find out whom, if anyone, killed the cousin he adored.

The movie is filmed near Chick's hometown of Spur, Texas so readers have insight into the forces that molded him into the man he is today. His innocence and caring heart endears him to the audience as they watch the collision between Hollywood and a small town. There is a lot of humor and dry wit infused into the dialog of the various characters which helps diffuse the tension when it reaches a boiling point. Aaron Latham has written a cleverly constructed who-done-it that has readers wondering if there was a killer and if so who was it.

Harriet Klausner