I can park it myself,” Archer said off this look. “Only questions are, how much do I charge, and are you a good tipper?” Review of the Grand Central Publishing audiobook edition, released simultaneously with the Grand Central Publishing hardcover (April 19, 2022) Being alive and living were also two distinct things, he had come to realize. The former being strictly biological; the latter was everything else." Aloysius Archer What I did, Archer, is between me, myself, and I.” She looked wistful, which she almost never did. “But I hear TV is really taking off,” she said. “Maybe I should think about trying that.” His destination was Universal Studios. He only knew one person there, but it was an important person, at least to him. Liberty Callahan had left Bay Town more than two years ago. That was where Archer lived and worked with Willie Dash’s “very private” detective agency. Callahan had gone to Hollywood to make her dream come true in the land of make-believe. As far as he knew, she was still working on making the town believe in her.

Los Angeles. It is New Year’s Eve and PI Aloysius Archer is dining with his friend and rising Hollywood actress Liberty Callahan when they’re approached by Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter who would like to hire him, as she suspects someone is trying to kill her. And All About Eve was two years ago,” interjected Lamb. “Which is twenty years in Hollywood time, at least for women.” The man gazed at Archer, his brown button eyes greedy and hopeful in their lust. “When the sun catches it just right, you can see right through the damn thing.” After a series of increasingly chilling events—mysterious phone calls, the same blue car loitering outside her house, and a bloody knife left in her sink—Eleanor fears that her life is in danger, and she wants to hire Archer to look into the matter. Archer suspects that Eleanor knows more than she’s saying, but before he can officially take on her case, a dead body turns up inside of Eleanor’s home . . . and Eleanor herself disappears. Los Angeles. It is New Year’s Eve and PI Aloysius Archer is dining with his friend and rising Hollywood actress Liberty Callahan when they’re approached by Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter who would like to hire him – as she suspects someone is trying to kill her.

Archer’s takes him behind the scenes of the Hollywood power elite, the dark sides of Los Angeles, and the glitzy world of Las Vegas, as he tries to piece together the connection between the dead body and Elanor’s disappearance. He finds himself going up against a dangerous mobster killer in Chinatown, power wielding movie producers and directors, untrusting and hard-edged county police investigators, and numerous suspects hiding secrets and relationships that hinder Archer from finding a killer and solving his case, as well as its impact on his personal relationship with Liberty. He passed buildings that were intricately cut into the city’s steep grade and looked lopsided and unrooted as a result. The roots here were always shallow, never deep. Deep required commitment, and there was none to be had here, at least that Archer could see.

Gresham, Tom (December 11, 2019). "David Baldacci once wrote stories in secret at VCU. Now he has millions of readers around the world". Virginia Commonwealth University. NYE 1952. Archer travels to Hollywood to see in the new year with Liberty Callahan who is trying to hit the big time in the movies. Whilst having dinner with the big names in the business, they are approached by Elanor Lamb, a woman who believes she is being stalked and her life is in danger. Archer agrees to work for her. The next thing he knows, there is a dead man in Lambs house in Malibu and Lamb has disappeared. Baldacci and his wife, Michelle, are the co-founders of the Wish You Well Foundation, [5] which works to combat illiteracy in the United States by funding adult illiteracy and education programs. [6] Baldacci became involved with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society after his sister, author Sharon Baldacci, was diagnosed with MS. [7] Dream Town by David Baldacci is the third in the Aloysius Archer series featuring former soldier, turned inmate, turned private investigator. A couple of years (in book-land, one year in real life) have passed since we last met Archer in A Gambling Man and he’s obviously been honing his detecting skills under stalwart and old-school PI Willie Dash.Archer is an old friend from Bay Town, just up the coast. He put his detective work aside for one night to ring in the new year with me.”

Archer’s investigation takes him from the rich, glamorous and glitzy LA to the seedy, dark side of the city, and onward to the gambling mecca of Las Vegas, just now hitting its stride as a hot spot for celebrities and a money-making machine for the mob. In a place where cops and crooks work hand in hand, Archer will cross paths with Hollywood stars, politicians and notorious criminals. He’ll almost die several times, and he’ll discover bodies and secrets from the canyons and beaches of Malibu and the luxurious mansions of Bel Air and Beverly Hills to the narcotics clubs of Chinatown.

Archer does not trust the police. First of all, the local force has a terrible reputation and has been at the center of scandals. More importantly, Archer has learned over the years that “anybody can be bought,” so he does not provide information to the authorities as he gathers it. Archer has learned to rely only on himself and trust his investigative instincts. That wisdom is critical to the story because Baldacci reveals that money is at the root of several aspects of the plot. Which makes sense because, after all, Archer is operating in Hollywood with an eclectic cast of supporting characters who work at and operate big movie studios. There is a lot of money, along with reputations, at stake. He’d met Callahan in Reno, where she was a dancer and hoofer at a dinner club. They’d traveled to Bay Town together and nearly gotten killed several times along the way. There was nothing like confronting death to cement a friendship. In addition to being a prolific writer, David is a devoted philanthropist, and his greatest efforts are dedicated to his family’s Wish You Well Foundation®. Established by David and his wife, Michelle, the Wish You Well Foundation supports family and adult literacy programs in the United States.