Mile High (Windy City Series Book 1)

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They might be, except that Condon loses his balance and—odd for him—goes off the shallow end. For the first time in eight novels, he wavers from his delightful obsession that maniacal rigidity is civilization's main motivating force and therefore the only human quirk worth a novelist's attention....

For some years now, Richard Condon... has been one of our supreme entertainers, a verbal tap-dancer whose ambitions usually have been limited to bedazzlement, fantasy and dark laughter. For the moment, he has abandoned vaudeville for a more serious stage. The result is this savage novel about the corruption of modern America.... For Eddie West, power was all that mattered," by Pete Hamill, The New York Times, August 31, 1969, at [2] Growing with not only Zanders but Stevie is insane and makes me love this book so much. The portrayal of mental health in Liz’s book is simply incredible. With all his books, I never wanted them to end. I can’t wait for the next book in the series and see Liz becoming an even more amazing author. The hideous possibility exists that Richard Condon has committed allegory. This saddening and unlikely conclusion is what remains after the reader has discarded all ordinary explanations for Mile High. The fine, demented gleam in Condon's eye has become a glitter, like that of a health-bar sign observed through the bottom of a celery-tonic bottle....When the characters were already talking (although mostly I had a feeling that this book is one long narration, as so few interactions took place there) I wasn't sure if they are eventually going to come to a conclusion, because there was so much inner monologuing between the lines that I really mostly lost my hope to get to the point sometime. The spice was 5/5. Zanders is a playboy so he has moves and skills he deserves, but I was pleasantly surprised by Stevie’s confidence, even if he was initially hesitant. They were flammable in the best way. On the romantic side, I couldn’t stop fainting. The way Zanders loves Stevie through his insecurities and the way Stevie loves him through her grudges on the past is so good. They challenge each other and get stronger. The title, for only the second time in Condon's eight novels, is not derived from a fictitious Keener's Manual mentioned in most of his earlier novels. Only his second, and most famous work, The Manchurian Candidate, had not previously used doggerel from the Manual as a title source.

I didn't really enjoy this book, having to skim read made it a bit disjointed for me but to wade my way through endless narrative looking to spot the point of it all was very tiresome. Maybe it jut wasn't for me, I wouldn't say don't read it but if you do don't expect too much. Not really memorable or exciting enough for me to award it any more than 3 stars.At the New York Times, Pete Hamill, who has since had a long career as a journalist, columnist, and novelist, was favorably impressed by it except, perhaps, as a work of fiction.

I love a good bonk-buster as a change from all the crime books I read, they never pretend to be what they're not and never fail to disappoint. Mile High is a perfect summer read and highly recommend as always. I absolutely love this author, as I always know that when a read one of Rebecca's books, I know that I'm in for a treat. Pure indulgence on so many levels, it's got everything. The head of the crew, Lucinda is having an affair with the pilot and gets jealous when the pilot starts to flirt with the new female member of the crew, Angela. Lucinda sets out to get revenge from Angela and defame her as a whore when she sees the celebrity chef being interested in Angela.

The very long chapters didn't help either, I felt there was too much narration and too little dialogue and the pacing was very slow. I'm glad I read this book and I'm not easily giving up on this author, as I've heard her previous novels are much better. But if you're new to Rebecca's writing, maybe it's better to read some of them and leave this one for later, or if you're into bonkbusters I wholeheartedly recommend 'Scandalous Lies' by Nigel May. I am a little disappointed, because there was so much potential in this story - setting the novel on a plane was in my opinion a brilliant idea, just imagine, a ten - hour flight, you are closed on a plane with a murderer, stalker, singer, actress and other VIPs - how much can happen? Much! At least I've expected tons of action, but it was slow, too slow for my liking, and the tension was not as palpable as I'd like it to be. At the heart of the plot is Catalina, who is being pursued by a stalker. “Cat is mine” is luridly scrawled at various venues culminating in the final written and graphic assault in her sleeping and living pod aboard the aircraft. The perpetrator is thus confirmed on board the jet. There are two air marshals on board, who grow increasingly wary of the various dynamics that seem to be escalating. Who is the perpetrator?

Curiously enough, it was published within a few months of a somewhat similar novel about multi-generational New York gangsters, The Godfather, by a relatively unknown author, Mario Puzo. Puzo and his book went on to worldwide renown, and while Mile High was received reasonably well, it did little to enhance Condon's reputation. This would have to wait a further two decades for his quartet of novels about the Prizzi family and its Hollywood adaptation, Prizzi's Honor. I’d never read a Rebecca Chance novel, so when I was asked if I’d like to read and review Mile High for part of her blog tour I jumped at the chance having heard so many fabulous things about her writing and after meeting her at a book event in London. Mile High was the eighth book by the American satirist and political novelist Richard Condon, first published by Dial Press in 1969. Internationally famous at the time of its publication, primarily because of his 1959 Manchurian Candidate, Condon had begun to lose the respect of critics with the publication of his last few books and the one-time, so-called Condon Cult was mostly a thing of the past. Like his fifth book, An Infinity of Mirrors, Mile High is a consciously ambitious work, primarily concerned with the establishment of Prohibition in the United States, and Condon researched it thoroughly. The first two-thirds of the book, in fact, reads as much like a lively history of New York City gangsterism from the mid-18th century through 1930 as it does a novel.Mile High is my first book by Rebecca Chance, but I had heard great things about her previous books so I was really excited to start it. The first that caught my attention in this book was its third person narrative. It was told from multiple points of views but it had a bit of an impersonal touch, so it was difficult for me to really connect with the characters. I felt, at the beginning, as if I was reading a very long magazine article rather than a book. But once I got used to this style and started knowing all the key characters better, I started enjoying the story a lot more. And I have to admit that with this narrative, it was totally impossible to guess who the stalker was, so Rebecca managed to keep me wondering until the very last minute. Mile High at first seems a normal Condon fancy.... Eddie West, the son of an Irish immigrant, brings about Prohibition singlehanded. His reason for doing so is that Prohibition will provide business opportunities. This is instantly understood by "the 18 greediest, the seven most hypocritical and the five wealthiest families in the country" to whom he goes for financing.... Stevie (Vee), my sweet girl, reminds me a lot of myself and I think the author wrote it in hopes that some (if not all) women could relate to her. There's an almost claustrophobic feel about this story.Whilst the description of the Luxe pods with their cashmere slippers and leather beds are wonderful, the reader is aware that there is nowhere for the characters to hide. They are cocooned, within the confines of the plane for the ten hour flight and this adds a tension to the plot. I loved the bitchy comments that came out from some of the cabin crew, comments that Judge Rinder would have been proud of! In fact, I think I would have quite liked to work that flight!