The battle of the Century Club heats up Miami as rival developers vie for the right to raze a seedy bar and drop a mammoth condo on its grave.
Landmark Status careens madly through a subtropical tangle of legal action, spirits, spells, kung fu, car wrecks, football, phobias, fetishes, wooden flutes, pet rabbits and vintage aircraft, while the fate of Miami's famed Century Club hangs in the balance. Once a notorious nightspot, the Club just awoke from decades of slumbering decay--thanks to a local building boom. Now everybody's scrambling to bury it under a fabulous high-rise.
Lawyer Benjy Bluestone couldn't care less, but a client owns the Club and seeks his help. It gets easier to say yes when he learns that beautiful broker Delia Torres is involved, even though she represents a developer who's furious to find the Club's been optioned to a rival. Benjy and Delia soon discover her client will stop at nothing to turn that option into "something so ugly the tide won't take it out." Racing the clock, they join forces on the road to Opa-locka, where a violent confrontation threatens to blow the deal sky high.
"Move over, Carl Hiaasen! This brilliantly funny romp through the `real' Miami will have you howling with laughter and booking your trip to South Beach. You're gonna love it!" -- Michael Levin, author of Soft Target
Excerpt
Benjy gathered himself, took a deep breath, stretched and prepared to jump out and help the stranded angel. But the near-collision and stomping on the brakes to avoid it had turned his legs to rubber. They buckled when he stood up and he fairly fell over the driver side door. He held on to it. The angel was screaming at him.
“Are you crazy?” she shrieked. “You almost killed me, you maniac!”
Benjy couldn’t speak. He burbled something unintelligible, let go of the door to point at the highway and his legs buckled again, sending him down in a heap. When he came to, he sensed the angel standing over him, her beautiful face inches away, her fresh scent washing over him, her summer silk dress rustling with a fragrance of jasmine and baby powder on soft skin. So I am dead, and this is heaven, he thought.
“Wake up, dimwit,” the angel said. Seeing Benjy stir, Delia Torres stretched to her full height, arms folded, sunglasses dangling from her hand. She was runway-model tall, with sculpted legs pulled tight in high heels and curves a man could get lost in. Most wanted to.
Professional Reviews
Blogger News Network
A novel based around real estate in Miami, I was not convinced that I would enjoy it. I had thoughts of tawdry love affairs among realtors, and board room struggles between power brokers. But instead I found a hugely entertaining, and side-splittingly funny novel that makes me chuckle every time I see the cover. This is humor at its very apex. Humor is a hard genre to be successful in but this author definitely has “The Write Stuff.” Alan Rolnick has created a vignette of life in Miami with Landmark Status that deserves a spot on the best seller list. The characters are wild, bent politicians, bent land developers, and even a Ponzi scheme thrown in for good measure, and what finer setting than Miami?
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The characters that Alan Rolnick has created are wild. But they are so well crafted they take on a reality in the reader’s mind. From the accident prone Benjy, to the money hungry mayor Oscar Torres, the even money hungrier would be land developer Chuck Steinberg and his slightly aging trophy wife Evelyn, they are all so well described I can guarantee you will love them. And these are just the beginning, we also have love interest from the Mayor’s niece Delia, we have Raj the Cigar Man, oh, and of course Rico the bungling bodyguard!
This is a riotous book, you are laughing on page one, and you are still laughing on the last page. There are cars wrecked, planes burned, Voodoo curses, even cemeteries desecrated, and this is all achieved with a dark humor that I find hard to believe comes from a first time author. This is also a book that would transition easily into a very very funny movie. And I did note that Alan Rolnick is not only an attorney, and an author, he is also a director, so come on Alan, make it happen!
Landmark Status is a must have for anyone who enjoys a great romp, you can order your copy from Amazon.
Reviewed by Simon Barrett
Roundtable Reviews
LANDMARK STATUS is an exciting roller coaster ride that at some point along the way picks up attorney Benjy Bluestone (who does not want to practice real estate law), his former divorce client Walter Marsh (who needs him to get over it), and buxom Delia Torres who wants to make a name for herself in the fast paced real estate economy without having to rely on politically motivated handouts or applications of her considerable charms.
At issue is the notorious Century Club that is supposed to make way for a new construction project, if it were not for Walter’s pesky insistence on making money on the deal. Before long, there are local government conspiracies, pyramid schemes, and strippers involved. Will Benjy have to practice real estate law? Will Walter get money for his club? Will Delia get a reputation?
LANDMARK STATUS is the kind of book that you might try to retell in three sentences or less, but before long you realize that you really can’t. In the same way that many of Mark Twain’s stories forestall a simple recap and always lose something, Alan Rolnick’s story is packed with oblique references, literary play on words, and situational comedy that you really need to read to appreciate. Even though he is a lawyer, his novel does not read like the average legal brief! Instead, it is funny, at times serious, consistently has the unexpected happening at the oddest times, and even when you wonder just what outlandish stunt could possibly happen next, you will still be surprised when you turn the page. This is a great read and you will not be disappointed!
Reviewed by Sylvia Cochran
Reader Views
Walter Marsh, owner of the historic and legendary Century Club found himself in a dilemma. His deposit from an out-of-state investor’s group on their option for the club property was nearly all spent. The option was ready to expire. Business was at its lowest ebb. A major convention center complex was in the planning stages. Local political forces were in a battle for control and needed Walter’s property. Rolnick has fully developed a cast of colorful characters to keep a fast-paced plot moving forward. Walter Marsh calls on lawyer Benjy Bluestone for advice. Smart and stunning, Delia Torres represents a local developer.
Add a few high rollers in Miami real estate and political circles, a mentally-challenged bodyguard chauffer, a novice newspaper reporter, a Bahamian-American politician, and a Cuban cigar importer, and you get the idea of the complex direction and zany antics that follow. Greed, political power, legal maneuvers, and romantic trysts are interwoven into an engrossing plot that replicates the TV series “Miami Vice,” with an on going comedic, satire and tongue in cheek humor.
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Alan’s writing is entertaining, and witty. Transitions flow naturally, his characters are easily recognizable and memorable. I was pleasantly surprised at the insight I gained into the land development and real estate industry in South Florida. Another aspect I enjoyed was a glimpse into the historical origins of Miami, and the ethnic influence in the politics of Miami.
I was hooked from the opening wrecking ball to the final explosion.
I am sure that in the near future, attorney Alan H. Rolnick, will be reviewing contracts for the movie rights to “Landmark Status” and will be moving on to write a series of stories based on the legal shenanigans of lawyer Benjy Bluestone. I am looking forward to the sequel.
A homonymless man writes shows what it's like to look up the laid he skirts when you’re lying prone(d) to the sidewalk, beer / joint / needle dangling from your hand /lips / arm.
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