Turnpike Flameout - Tapa dura

The crash of a private jet in the New Jersey Pine Barrens is just the beginning of problems for faded rock star Turnpike Bobby Chin, who somehow survives the crash, as a sculptor who created an unflattering statue of the star vanishes and Bobby becomes the prime suspect in the case, unless pollster Jonah Eastman can come up with an alternative. 15,000 first printing.

In the tradition of Get Shorty and The Player, Turnpike Flameout pierces America's veil of celebrity and asks: When does fame become a crime?

Early praise for Turnpike Flameout:

"Turnpike Flameout is one of the funniest, smartest novels I've ever read. Everything about the book is top-shelf--the characters, the humor, the writing, the satire, the slick plot. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but Eric Dezenhall has written a novel that leaves the rest of us mumbling and shaking our heads, wondering how in the world he pulled it off."
--Martin Clark, author of The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living and Plain Heathen Mischief

"Turnpike Flameout is what's really going on while the rest of us are watching the spun-for-the-masses version of star meltdowns on Entertainment Tonight! A fast-paced trip behind the facade of celebrity persona into the rarely seen reality of what it means to be a fading star. The ultimate celebrity tantrum, totally outrageous and totally believable."
--Lisa Brandt, Celebrity Tantrums: The Official Dirt

"With snortworthy humor, Eric Dezenhall takes you to a messy, sinister realm - the weird world of crisis-managing a retrograde pop idol who's gone right off the edge. Finally - an irresistible mystery for people who hide their copy of Us Weekly inside a copy of Vanity Fair inside a copy of the Economist. Smart, bizarre, and oddly danceable."
--Hank Stuever, author of Off Ramp: Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere

Praise for Eric Dezenhall and Shakedown Beach:

"A cheeky political satire...Here's proof that politics is funny when it isn't even trying."
--Marilyn Stasio, NYTBR

"Reads like a Carl Hiaasen novel hijacked from South Florida and plopped down in South Jersey...a well-observed thriller."
--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Dezenhall is the most mordantly funny writer not named Westlake, with an ear for the zinger, a lie detector that makes mincemeat of politicians and spinmeisters, and the ability to plot like Machiavelli."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)