LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR of 10,000 Steps a Day in LA; High-Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania

Paradise Palms: Red Menace Mob is a hard-boiled noir crime fiction set in Los Angeles. As a native Angeleno himself, Haddad has leveraged his deep knowledge of the city to inform the book's historical fiction, with many scenes based on real-life locations and events. 

It is October 1957. A time of Eisenhower conformity, police and mob strongholds, and Red Scare paranoia. A relic of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the aging Paradise Palms Hotel is on the brink of change. David Shapiro—eldest son of recently widowed Max Shapiro—has assumed a leadership role. But the more he digs into the hotel’s business, the more he questions who his father is. It’s not just the tenuous ties to gangster Mickey Cohen, who is trying to commandeer “the Palms,” but also the sudden appearance of a mysterious African American guest named Rae Lynn, who improbably rises in stature. As long-buried secrets come to light, David’s battle to keep the family intact takes a tragic turn. His actions mirror an America lurching from the surface simplicity of the ’50s to the turmoil of the 1960s in this riveting neo-noir family saga.

Recommended for readers who enjoy family sagas and crime fiction – fans of Elmore Leonard, L.A. Confidential, The Godfather, and The Sopranos. L.A. Kirkus Reviews says "the writing is vividly descriptive, snarky, and funny, but it doesn't shy away from engaging with serious issues, such as homophobia, racism, and police corruption" while the U.S. Review of Books calls it "an intricate tale that rings with authenticity."

View the Book Trailer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phoAR8HHyFM