I did finish Jake Tapper's novel The Devil May Dance (#1,032), but it seemed to take me years to do it. Congressman Charlie Marder is strong-armed by Attorney General Bobby Kennedy to do some investigating of the Hollywood scene, and in particular, the Rat Pack. Since Marder is a conservative Republican, why would he do this for the Kennedys, for whom he has no respect? The leverage they hold, literally, is his father in a fetid jail cell to ensure his cooperation.
Soon Charlie and his wife are mingling with Sinatra, Martin and Davis at lavish parties replete with underage eye candy and mobsters. It's not their scene, but until they turn up some useful information for the Kennedys, they are obligated to keep looking...
I'm not a big fan of any of the Rat Pack, so while it was interesting, the story didn't pull me in. Sex trafficking, drugs, blackmail, Cuba and Disneyland all played a role here, but to me, in many ways, the most interesting thing was the song which Sinatra sings at an Academy Award performance, The Devil May Dance. As it turns out, the song is fictitious as Tapper notes at the end. Saved me (and a whole bunch of other people, too, I'm sure!) the trouble of searching for a recording on Google. It struck me that this song, with these lyrics, was totally absurd to accompany the soundtrack of El Cid, of all movies!
I think that your interest in this time period and the Rat Pack itself will be the driving factors in whether or not this book will appeal to you.
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