L.A. Times Audiobook

Vinnie Callabrese toils in the mean world of a Mafia hood, violently enforcing his loan-shark boss''s debt collections, but he lives in the world of the movies, one where he can tie a bow tie like Cary Grant and speak with the voice of Tyrone Power.

Vinnie is smart, too, and he finds a way to turn his dream world into reality. Arriving on the West Coast with a new identity and some ill-gotten gains, Vinnie discovers that his sociopathic nature is just the ticket for handling the intrigues of tinseltown. He employs his old techniques of deceit, coercion, sexual conquest -- even murder -- to carve out a place at the top of the film industry.

But Vinnie''s old neighborhood friends have excellent memories and a long reach, and soon his fast-track career is facing derailment -- or even worse, a new driver at the controls.

Performed by Tony Roberts