A new Munch Mancini novel from the nationally bestselling author whose Unfinished Business was a Los Angeles Times "Best Book of 2001"
Munch Mancini is a busy woman, what with her auto mechanic's job, her fledgling limo business, and single motherhood, but she hasn't forgotten her old friends: she's still close to Ellen Summers. Munch and Ellen were young and foolish together. They drank, they did drugs, they did other things they'd rather forget. But somewhere along the line, Munch went straight and Ellen went to prison.
Now, Ellen is about to be freed form the California Institiution ofor Women. She'll have another chance to make a life. Or will she? Just a day before her release, her world falls apart when someone tortures and murders her mother and stepfather, Lila Mae and Dwayne Summers. Ellen may be the next target.
Ellen has something the killer wants, and she's not about to give it up. Alone and threatened, she flees to Munch. Munch wants to help, but is Ellen telling her the truth? Too much of Ellen's story doesn't make sense, and what if helping Ellen puts Munch's eight-year-old daughter, Asia, at risk? That's where friendship stops and motherhood takes over. Where Asia's concerned, Munch takes no chances.
Unwilling to confide completely in the police because the whole truth would send Ellen back to prison, Munch embarks on a mission to find the killer and to cut the best possible deal for her friend. Work, friendship,loyalty, motherhood, men, and even Munch's sobriety are all put to the test in the six harrowing days leading up to a heartbreaking showdown. Munch must ask herself some tough questions. If she comes through this one, she'll never take anything for granted again.
Besides her dealings with Ellen, Munch has some problems of her own. The jealous mother of one of Asia's playmates is stalking Munch, convinced she's stealing her husband. The woman could be dangerous. She can't be ignored. She's wrong about the husband, though. The chemistry is between Munch and Homicide Detective Rico Chacón, who's investigating the Summers murders. Munch hasn't felt this way about a man in a long time, but canshe trust him?
With riveting action and one of the most unconventional and appealing heroines in all of crime fiction, No Man Standing is the best yet from a superbly gifted author.
Ellen Summers was Mancini's best gal-pal in the rough old days, and is just released from her latest stint in the California Institution for Women, a penal facility. Summers is being sought by vicious killers who want returned a very large sum of counterfeit Franklins that she found and hid before her most recent imprisonment. The first bodies in a growing pile are those of Ellen's Mom and stepfather. Meanwhile, Munch is being harassed by the jealous ex of a poor choice of lovers, and she doesn't need the heavy baggage that Ellen has brought to her and Asia's doorstep.
By design or not, assigning Ellen a major role in this fifth book of the Munch Mancini series was true inspiration by author Barbara Seranella. Summers is at least a pale reflection of Seranella's protagonist before she became a contributing member of society. For those steady readers of the series, who perhaps thought that Munch was becoming too middle-class, or for those being introduced to Munch for the first time, Ellen is a much-needed reminder of Mancini's former low-life edginess. That aspect, plus the ending plot twist of NO MAN STANDING, extends my interest in the series as a whole, the storylines of which will need to be unpredictable to keep me returning for more. While the last chapter gives a too obvious hint to the evolution of Mancini's love life in the next book, I trust the author will surprise us.
The back flap of NO MAN STANDING reveals that Barbara Seranella ran away at fourteen from the showcase upper middle-class enclave of Pacific Palisades, CA, joined a San Francisco hippie commune, rode with outlaw bikers, and became an auto mechanic. Since I also spent several idyllic childhood years in Pacific Palisades before my uneventful and unrebellious teens, I wish we could sit and compare notes to determine where I went wrong.
If you're looking for something to take to the beach, look no further. Talk about a quick read: I started it between a wedding and its reception on Saturday and finished it Sunday evening, despite having the reception, post-reception drinks, and a brunch the day after that turned into a five-hour affair.
The fifth Munch Mancini novel begins with Munch's old friend Ellen Summers getting out of prison the day after her mother and stepfather are killed in a rather gruesome fashion. Ellen has an explanation of why someone would have been after her mother, but the explanation has too many holes in it to completely make sense. Combine this with Ellen's real father coming back into the picture, a crazy woman stalking Munch, a new romantic interest (on the police force, no less), and you've got yourself a novel.
Quick, witty, and absorbing, No Man Standing is pretty much the perfect beach novel; easy, fun, and with short enough chapters that you know, when you finish one, it's time to expose a different side to the sun. ***
