The Million-Dollar Wound
Written by Max Allan Collins
Narrated by Dan John Miller
4/5
()
About this audiobook
In 1942, Chicago P.I. Nate Heller and his childhood pal, boxer Barney Ross, join the Marines and see bloody action together at Guadalcanal. Upon his return to gangland Chicago, the shell-shocked Heller—more dangerous than ever—is thrust into the midst of an inter-gang war to depose Capone’s successor Frank Nitti, whose minions are infiltrating Hollywood movie unions.
In this crushing finale to rough-and-tumble Nate Heller’s Frank Nitti trilogy, Max Allan Collins delves into the damaged psyche of war veterans as a full-on gangland war threatens to explode. As tempers in Hollywood flare-up, Heller attempts to solve a murder committed behind enemy lines, and deal with the drug addiction of his friend Barney. But not even the company of fan dancer Sally Rand can ease Heller’s conscience as he is haunted by the events at Guadalcanal even as he’s surrounded by the murder and mayhem of Nitti’s final, violent days.
Max Allan Collins
<p>Max Allan Collins is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. He is the author of the Shamus Award-winning Nathan Heller thrillers and the graphic novel <em>Road to Perdition</em>, basis of the Academy Award-winning film starring Tom Hanks. His innovative Quarry novels led to a 2016 Cinemax series. He has completed a dozen posthumous Mickey Spillane mysteries, and wrote the syndicated <em>Dick Tracy</em> series for more than fifteen years. His one-man show, <em>Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life</em>, was an Edgar Award finalist. He lives in Iowa.</p>
More audiobooks from Max Allan Collins
Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher: Hunting America's Deadliest Unidentified Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Doesn't Kill Her Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legend of Caleb York Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lusitania Murders Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The London Blitz Murders Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Supreme Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fate of the Union Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bibliomysteries Volume 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Titanic Murders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Executive Order Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Baby Blue Rip-Off Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Nice Weekend for a Murder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5No Cure for Death Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Seduction of the Innocent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War of the Worlds Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hindenburg Murders Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Million-Dollar Wound
Titles in the series (16)
Target Lancer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Triple Play: A Nathan Heller Casebook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bye Bye, Baby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Detective Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Damned in Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chicago Confidential Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Million-Dollar Wound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Crime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood and Thunder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flying Blind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carnal Hours Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chicago Lightning: The Collected Nathan Heller Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Majic Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Neon Mirage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angel in Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stolen Away Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related audiobooks
Neon Mirage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Damned in Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Crime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Detective Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Media: The Max Allan Collins Interview Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAngel in Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chicago Confidential Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carnal Hours Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Better Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stolen Away Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chicago Lightning: The Collected Nathan Heller Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Majic Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Triple Play: A Nathan Heller Casebook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Bundle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBye Bye, Baby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Comin' Home to You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Baby Blue Rip-Off Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Titanic Murders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Do No Harm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rocky Fortune - Volume 1: Oyster Shucker & Steven in a Rest Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAustralian Heist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Seersucker Whipsaw Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bandits Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Swag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Road Dogs Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Hindenburg Murders Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Flying Blind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Bait Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Pearl Harbor Murders Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tough Guys in the Room Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Mystery For You
The Librarian of Crooked Lane: The Glass Library, book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The White Lady: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eye of the Raven Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Echo of Old Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5T. H. Elkman: A Western Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shutter Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Curious Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ABC Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil and the Dark Water Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enchanted Hill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tread of Angels Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Watchmaker's Daughter: Glass And Steele, Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Curse of the Brimstone Contract Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Socialite's Guide to Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder by Degrees: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady in the Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alienist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder at the Mayfair Hotel: Cleopatra Fox Mysteries, book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood of the Oak: A Mystery of Revolutionary America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Impossible Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Most Intriguing Lady: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Physicists' Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lavender House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mapmaker's Apprentice: Glass And Steele, Book 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Million-Dollar Wound
34 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nathan Heller is Max Allan Collins' invention. Heller is a fictional
character who interacted throughout the twentieth century with
interesting figures and in controversial situations ranging from Eliot Ness' war on organized crime to Marilyn Monroe's last days. As bizarre and silly as the concept sounds in the abstract, in Collins' capable
hands, the concept actually works and works well.
In this novel, which is the third of the "Nitti" era Heller novels, Heller and his buddy, ex-boxer Barney Ross, enlist in the marines. Both are too old to enlist, but they lie about their age and enlist anyway. Collins takes the pair through the drunken evening that ended with Heller enlisting and to Camp Pendleton, where they underwent basic training. The pair then head out to Guadalcanal to an incredible play-by-play
foxhole fight with the Japanese army. The action is so intense, you
actually feel as if you are watching a war movie, not reading (or
listening) to a novel.
I had already read about how Heller "met" Monroe and the Kennedys
years later, but I assumed that Barney was just another character in
the story, not a real-life celebrity. Ross (aka Beryl Rosofsky) was
actually a world champion in three weight divisions and decorated
veteran of World War II where he fought Guadalcanal and killed nearly
two dozen enemy troops in one night. His father had wanted him to
become a rabbi, but after his father was killed resisting a robbery, Ross became a street brawler and then a professional boxer. Never knocked
out in 81 fights, he finished his career with 72 wins and is consistently
ranked as one of the best fighters of all time.
The story then takes a wounded Heller (wounded in that great battle
at Guadalcanal) back to the states where he slowly puts together who
he is and is discharged so that he can testify against reputed mobster
Frank Nitti.
The rest of the book follows Heller through Chicago and Hollywood as
he deals with organized crime's entry into the Hollywood unions.
For me, the best parts were the war stories and Heller's recovery, but,
by all means, read the whole book, it's all good. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5There is a fairly good Nate Heller novel, with little of the excitement of the classic first two novels, but none of the dryness and improbabilities of the later stories.