I just finished Four Coins, a Yo-Yo, and a Gun, and honestly, the whole old Hollywood setting mixed with mystery really pulled me in, and the story kept me hooked the whole time. With a sense of world-building, I was transported back to a time before my existence, but with contemporary implications. The author, David Garber, has created a richly detailed portrait of 1920s Hollywood — a world of glamour and ambition sitting atop a foundation of corruption, backroom deals, and ruthless power plays. This is an addictive mystery using real and fictional characters to tell a seemingly true story of ruthless ambition.
So let’s get into a few things about the book, about the author, and about the heart of the story!
Book Stats
- Author: David Garber.
Formats: Paperback and E-Book through Amazon/Kindle.
Price: $15.95 for paperback, $9.95 for Kindle, or Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Length: 435 pages.
About the Author
What makes Garber uniquely qualified to tell this story is no accident. As a veteran television writer and producer with over 30 years in Hollywood — including work on The Power Rangers, Alien Nation, and Alien Strange as well as writing on Kingdom Hearts — he spent years on the very studio lots where much of this novel’s action unfolds. He knows these worlds, both the one on screen and the one behind the cameras. That insider knowledge gives Four Coins, a Yo-Yo, and a Gun an authenticity that readers will feel on every page. For anyone who has ever been swept into the adventure of a richly constructed fictional universe — whether through gaming, film, or television — this novel delivers that same immersive experience in print.
Basic Premise
At the heart of the story is an unlikely pairing that gives the novel much of its emotional power. Wyatt Earp, the aging legend of the Old West, is approached by Dean Carlisle, a grieving 13-year-old boy whose mother has been murdered and the investigation buried by corrupt cops. With nowhere else to turn, Dean offers the legendary lawman everything he has — four coins totaling 32 cents and a yo-yo — to find her killer. The bond that forms between them as they navigate the darkest corridors of the Hollywood underworld is as compelling as the mystery itself. Watching these two work together — the old lawman finding renewed purpose, the boy discovering what adults are truly capable of — gives the novel much of its emotional heart. The heroes and villains here are drawn with the same complexity and moral ambiguity that the best storytelling demands.
The novel is sentimental in parts, heightened tension in others. The mix between its 1927 Hollywood setting and 1880s western Arizona terrain kept me gripped in whodunnit mode throughout. It was fascinating to look up some of these stars, directors, and studio heads and find out they were real. The plausibility of this complex plot is remarkably strong.
I really felt I was reading a James Ellroy or Michael Connelly novel. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction with a noir edge — and to younger readers looking for a new world worth getting lost in.
In Conclusion
If you have made it this far, you might as well read the first two chapters for FREE on their website HERE as well as check out the other books written by this author. Thanks again for joining us, and catch you next time!
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