Romeo's Rules (Mike Romeo Thrillers Book 1)

In my search for the literary descendants of Ross MacDonald and Raymond Chandler, I came across James Scott Bell a few years back. His noir short stories easily fill the shoes of many of the pulp fiction masters of detective fiction, while his legal thrillers brilliantly capture the sights and sounds of late 90s - early 2000s LA locales, people and that all important decrepit sunshine, seedy paradise by the sea urban vibe.Romeo's Rules is the first in the series of Mike Romeo suspense-thrillers and my first read in this series. So I have no idea where it goes moving forward. You'll need to take this as a stand-alone review of a series origin story read as a stand-alone novel.James Scott Bell does somewhat capture the first-person style of Raymond Chandler. But Bell's hero, Mike Romeo, is more super-hero mysterious than either Chandler's Philip Marlowe or MacDonald's Lew Archer. Romeo does share their clay-footed capacity for getting himself into trouble, but Romeo is an intellectual and physical superhuman, capable of quoting classical Greek philosophers while delivering UFC quality jujitsu moves on his sociopathic foes.Romeo himself is a sociopath. Romeo, of course, is not his real name. He has a shadowy history going back to his childhood as an academic prodigy turned vengeful mixed martial artist that I won't spoil by revealing here.He happens across a bombing at a Catholic Church while on a jog through the neighborhood where he lives with his friend and mentor, the wheel-chair bound, Mossad-agent-turned-rabbi, Ira. such coincidences do, indeed, happen in LA all the time (sarcasm intended). Romeo's obsessive compulsion to help a beautiful woman whose children disappear in the explosion propels him on a journey though LA's dark, intersecting underworld of big business, corrupt politics, organized crime and urban hopelessness.The story itself is not particularly original, and the unexpected ending is fairly expected, but all of it is simply meant to showcase Mike Romeo, a fascinating character whose one-liners and bizarre thinking make up the running gag of an otherwise run-of-the-mill thriller (He is also annoying -- never lacking a flippant remark, biting cut of sarcasm, or irritating tidbit of classical trivia to share with whomever is within hearing distance. Even Ira, his wheel-chair bound rabbi, tires of it!). Mike Romeo is not a private investigator or former cop or an ex-Special Operator, just a street smart genius, former cage-fighter with a capacity for running headfirst into trouble in order to achieve his version of justice in an unjust world in which very evil strong people prey on the weak. His only solution, in most confrontations, to to end every fight with a bad guy dead... and Romeo struggling with a bad conscience afterward... until the next fight scene.James Scott Bell is known in some circles as a "Christian" author. But Romeo's Rules is not aimed at a Christian audience. It's a hard-nosed, bare-knuckle thriller. The upside of Bell's faith means we won't be subjected to constant F-bombs and erotic content, two things that ruin most modern fiction for me. But this novel is violent. Highly. I don't mind. It's what I like to read. But some of you pearl clutchers out there might be offended.So as an "origin" story, Romeo's Rules is a highly-entertaining, novel-length introduction to a unique protagonist. As a stand-alone thriller, it's pedestrian, with the confusing plot lines sorted out by a final conversation near the end that is meant to wrap things up for the reader. Bell is a good writer and should know better. But he must have realized the plot lines here were all over the map and needed to be neatly reeled in before the story ended. Mike Romeo is interesting enough even if this particular story plot isn't. So I'll be looking for bigger and better things in the next one I read in this series.Romeo's Rules is recommended. Especially if you want a post-modern take on 1930s-40s detective pulp fiction set in Southern California. Enjoy!

Bell is a master at character development, Romeo is both perplexing as well as funny. The crafty unfolding of the plot is exciting and is unfailing in wit as well as action. I enjoyed the mental stimulation.

This is a very fun novel packed with action from the first moment to the last. The hero, Romeo, is a former mixed martial arts fighter with devastating physical skills who gets involved in trying to find the kidnapper of two children. He knows he shouldn’t get involved and he makes a half-hearted effort to stop being involved, but the bad guys are worried about him and won’t let him stay out of their trouble. So, they hurt him really bad and he starts hurting them back. There really isn’t anything more to this book. It’s a lot of fighting. There was one thing, however, that bothered me a lot. Romeo believes he has a constitutional right to not tell the police anything about himself even when he is reporting a crime or being questioned about one. Anyone who watches any of the live cop shows knows that once the police begin investigating a crime or potential crime, that right goes straight out the window. Not cooperating is obstruction. But every cop Romeo runs into lets him walk away without even leaving his name. And that was a serious flaw in the story because it threatened my suspension of disbelief. But I still had a lot of fun reading it.

Author Bell checks all the boxes in this volume. Extraordinary characters, tension, unpredictability, and a glimmer of hope.Fully impressed with Bell’s language and awareness of ethical values in a murder mystery.

James Scott Bell’s books never disappoint me. Mike Romeo is a fascinating character. Intelligent, educated, and widely-read (as the author must be as well), he was also a professional fighter for a time. He’s running from personal pain, and I look forward to learning more of his story in future books.Note: I listened to the audiobook, narrated by James L. Rubart, and I highly recommend the listening experience.

This is a well written thriller and my first Mike Romeo book. He's an interesting character and I never knew what he would say next, either aloud or to himself. Very unique.

Mr. Bell has written other fiction that wrested my heart from my chest and left it thumping on the floor. Not by violence, but by strength of identification with powerful deep emotions. No other author has ever done that to me. This tale surprised me in a different, but just as powerful way. Romeo is a broken hero in the film noir tradition (can a book be noir? Hmm) but set in the sprawling sunny beauty of Los Angeles and environs. Now that’s an accomplishment in itself. It’s not China Town, Jake. It’s way better.

I see some negative reviews, which I almost totally don't agree with. As reviewer Spider Robinson once said of William Goldman, author of the wonderful The Princess Bride, James Scott Bell can write "until your nose runs and your ears drip wax." Yes, the POV character writes oddly at times, quotes literature and philosophy, and often baffles those he's talking to (partly because he not only went to Yale, as did I, but he paid attention). He also knows a lot about fighting, injuries, food, Los Angeles, stores, police and crime in general, and he has one of the oddest sidekicks to come along in a while. My only complaint is that the wind-up was over too quickly for me to figure out "who did what, and with which, and to whom" (not to mention why). "Neverthemore" (as Pogo possum used to say), traveling along with the protagonist throughout this story was good fun, and will push me toward the next in the series as no crime novel since the Jack Reacher books has done. Ding dong, Mr. Bell. (My ringing tribute.)

I do like a book which doesn't pretend to be something it is not. I picked up this book expecting it to be filled with gratuitous violence and nice clean ending - and boom! Sorted. SO what if it was predictable and full of gory? You knew that going in!The basic premise is there is Mike, he has a secret past, but it includes being a fairly successful cage fighter and his friend Ira who is Mossad trained. Mike is out for his run when a bomb goes off and he gets himself involved in helping a beautiful woman (are there any other sort in books like these) get her children back from her abusive ex. Obviously things are not what they seem and Mike has to fight back against various people who want to cause him harm and keep the police in the dark about who he is and what he has done.It's brilliantly cheap fiction. Loved it. It only gets 4 stars because although it is a great book it didn't change my world.

I rather enjoyed my time with this book - and, if not taken too seriously, it's actually a fun read. The story itself is not particularly original but what sets it apart from the run of the mill American crime novels out there is the central character of Mike Romeo. Mike is a big, rugged guy who was once a cage fighter. He is also a likeable, well-educated individual who has a particular interest in philosophy - be it of the ancient or contemporary variety. Throughout the novel, Mike often quotes certain philosophers either to the reader or to the characters in the book - which usually illicit blank expressions from the recipients. He is also someone who hasn't got much time for authority figures (aka the cops/FBI/CIA) and, in any given investigation, will regularly antagonise and ridicule them.Romeo comes over as someone with the body and intelligence of Jack Reacher but with the dry humour of Philip Marlowe. I especially liked all the one-liners in this novel. At one stage, Romeo is in a restaurant snacking on some tortilla chips and thinks to himself: 'So much happiness in life comes from a satisfying crunch. Be it a chip or the cartilage of a bad guy's nose.'To my mind, this may not quite be a 5 star novel but I found it thoroughly entertaining all the same.

Having really enjoyed the author’s ‘Try’ series and in particular, Ty Buchanan, the anti-hero in these books, I was interested in reading other titles by the same author. And then I came across Romeo’s Rules and my heart sank. The name Mike Romeo suggested someone like a greasy, superficial Dean Martin character (Matt Helm, Jason Steel, Alex Flood) or even Austin Powers so I was tempted to give it a miss. How glad am I that I didn’t. Never judge a book by its cover!It starts with a bang (literally) and even in the first few pages, I could tell that Mike would be revealed as a unique central character and I wasn’t disappointed. I have seen all types of violence practitioners (goodies as well as baddies) in films but the ones who are the most sinister and convincing are the ones who make educated pronouncements before doing the deed. I began to think he was a bit unctuous in the way he eschews money and other material comforts but Mike combines a deep knowledge of philosophy with choice Latin phrases to give him an inner strength and resilience while helping to create a menacing but thoroughly engaging and ultimately convincing vanquisher. But this not just a trail of violence, it is a search for truth and justice by someone you know has the physical and mental strength to deal with the various challenges that confront him.I didn’t see the end coming as indeed, I haven’t in other James Scott Bell books and now that Mike Romeo has shared the secrets of his past with his friend and confidant Ira, the stage is set for further Mike Romeo novels which I for one can’t wait for.

I'd say this was 3, 3.5 stars - and what brought it down was the constant introduction of references to Greek mythology, classic books - and the odd Latin phrase thrown in. The dollops of high brow literature just don't fit well into a book that's meant to be a thriller (IMHO). I also didn't understand any of the references - and I went to a Grammar school and did Latin and read Shakespeare and so on - but can't for the life of me remember enough of it for those parts of the book to make sense. Unless you are a scholarly type that kind of knowledge drifts away as we grow up (and older) and focus more on learning skills related to our occupation.I also didn't get how come Romeo could make a few very obscure and terse comments and suddenly strangers were saying that they liked him. Not sure how as I wasn't particularly keen on him and I lived with him for the duration of the book. In real life I suspect many people would have muttered "weirdo" and walked away from him.I did get to the end. I actually almost bailed at the 50% mark but, having trouble sleeping, I soldiered on and the pace picked up in the 2nd half enough to lure me back in. This book was a freebie - but I'm not sure I'd pay to have a 2nd outing with our Romeo.

Romeo plaus by his own rules. Ask him a question and he's likely not to answer the way you want him too. He talks in circles just to not give information. When he gets embroiled in a bombing and a kidnapping, he knows he should just walk away. But he can't. What has Romeo really got himself into?I liked this book, it was action packed almost all the way through. I like the character Romeo but what I didn't like was how much he got sucked in. He seemed so savvy but he was still pulled into a massive web of lies.