This was an interesting read! This was my 1st book at AK Aliss but will not be my last, I am adding their books to my TBR!

It was a slow read for me. Although it may not be a read for me, others may enjoy reading it. I like fast pace books that keeps me at the edge of my sit.

Termed as an alt-history noir detective novel, Jimmy Dean's Last Dance is alternate imagining of history involving Marilyn Monroe's death and the assassination plot of President John F. Kennedy. A lot of famous names make an appearance in completely different avatars. Jimmy Dean is still very much alive in the 1960s although still struggling as an actor while Elvis Presley is a long distance trucker and both get sucked into government conspiracies while trying their hand at sleuthing to find out if Marilyn death was really a suicide or murder.

The narration was the best part and the six different narrators-Johnny Heller, Neil Hellegers, Bill Lord, Joya Colucci Lord, Jo Anna Perrin and Anneliese Rennie- did an excellent job of bringing both the narrative and characters to life with their dramatic performances. It felt like I was listening to a radio drama rather than a normal audiobook.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publishers AudionMedia/Kelly Rinne/Stopwatch and the author A. K. Alliss for providing both the ARC/ALC of the title although I ended up listening to only the audiobook.

really liked this book! yes, it’s historically incorrect, but howdy?! we get to experience a suspenseful crime story involving the legendary James Dean & Elvis Presley, being buddies and running after diaries. I’m here for it!

I am guessing this book would fall into the category of historical fiction.
   Set in the sixties it’s another, albeit far fetched, it’s a look at the grassy knoll and all the conspiracy theories that go along with it. The difference is that Jimmy Dean (bit actor) and Elvis ( here a long haul driver) are at the center of it.
   Jimmy has befriended Marilyn Monroe and when she is found dead of apparent suicide Jimmy takes it upon himself to prove this untrue. He then contacts his old friend who owes him a favor (Elvis) to help him in this quest.
   In their hunt for the “truth” they encounter various organizations who had reason to harm Marilyn: FBI, CIA, Mafia.  Marilyn had a secret, once shared, that could ruin a prominent politician. The various characters within these organizations all have familiar names that produced an eye roll and a chuckle from this reader.
   It’s an intriguing twist of events and characters that is well narrated: a totally enjoyable listen.

A fiction novel with real life re-imagined characters. This one was interesting. Having real life people and events in a re-imagined story was both genius and took some getting used to. Genius because the characters and their whole vibe needed no explanation at all. The real life energy of the people was kept in the book and was its own decription outside of the written story. Having these characters and using some aspects of their history but in a completely different setting took a moment to get used to. I was expecting Elvis to turn into the Elvis at any moment. I thought the narrators did an amazing job with Jimmy and Elvis. I did not like any of the female narrators. Again, they may not have been bad, just in trying to sound like these icons threw me off and got me concentrating on another aspect outside the story.

Interesting read, even if only to live through this alternate reality.

The description of this book hooked me before I even listened to it!

I thought the alternate history, and roles of famous actors/musicians was a really interesting take. The narrators did a great job, and I appreciated the attention to detail.

Overall, this was a fun read for me!

The Plot

An imaginary story about the death of Marilyn Monroe and her involvement with John Kennedy. It was really a stretch of the imagination and I kept listening to it because the narrators were so great with the voices
.
The story made it seem as if Jimmy Dean and Elvis Presley could have actually been rubble rousers had they actually known each other.

The story goes that Jimmy Dean was a friend of Marilyn Monroe, when she died he was seen with her that night and was under suspicion by the police. They dubbed it a suicide and Jimmy was off the hook. However, he kept nosing around because he was sure it was not a suicide and he wanted the truth. When he ran into trouble with his searching he called in his friend Elvis Presley to help him find the truth.

Both Jimmy and Elvis got in over their heads into an assassination plot and ended up in hot water.
It is a bit of a sleuth story but it is really a fantasy story about the affair with Marilyn Monroe and John Kennedy which is build around an alternative fantasy concerning these events and the people involved.

The story was a bit much, but I loved the narrators, it was fun to listen and I ended up listening to the entire book.

Thanks to A.K. Alliss for the great imagination, to Johnny Heller, Neil Hellgers, Bill Lord, Jo Anna Perrin, and Anneliese Rennie for the wonderful narration, to Kelly Rennie and Stopwatch publishing for publishing the audio book and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the audio book to listen to and review.

There is corruption brewing in Hollywood. Jimmy Dean was with Marilyn Monroe the night before her apparent suicide, and after he is questioned by the cops himself, he believes her death involved foul play. He reaches out to his old buddy Elvis, the long distance truck driver, to help him uncover answers and embark on an action packed investigation and vigilante justice.

This book is classified under “Historical Fiction” and “Mystery”, but it breaks the barriers of these mainstream genres to actually be considered a blend of an “Alternative History” and “Noir Detective” novel. I never knew Alt-History was a genre, so this really excited me. I like the idea of an author putting their own spin on what is to be widely believed to be historical facts or just reimagining well-known characters in twisted storylines.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary digital audiobook ARC for Jimmy Dean’s Last Dance. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It’s 1962 in Los Angeles. Jimmy Dean is a bit part actor who becomes friends with famed actress Marilyn Monroe. When Marilyn is found dead in her LA home, the ruling is suicide. But Jimmy thinks foul play. As he starts digging, he comes up against those who wish to stop him from uncovering the truth. They might even want him dead.

Realizing he's out of his depth, Jimmy calls former business partner, Mississippi truck driver Elvis Presley. As Jimmy and Elvis search deeper, they uncover a potential link between Marilyn's death and the highest office in the United States.

Jimmy Dean's Last Dance is an alt-history noir detective novel in the tradition of The Big Sleep and Chinatown.

I thought this was a really interesting book to listen to. The plot felt like a new spin on the detective story. I love old detective stories and this one was fun to listen to. I love the idea of James Dean, Marilyn and Elvis being friends. They all died young and are connected in a way. Alternate universes and “what if” stories are always interesting to explore to me.

I would recommend this to anyone who’s interested in old Hollywood stories!

A great plot involving Elvis Presley, Jimmy Dean and Marilyn Monroe amongst others!!.
Loosely based around Marilyn's death, the story plodded along nicely with Jimmy Dean playing detective to try and find Marilyn's"killer" along with his friend Elvis Presley, before they were famous, as he can't believe she had killed herself.
All of the characters were given life by Johnny Heller, Neil Hellegers, Bill Lord, Jo Anna Perrin, Anneliese Rennie. They did a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life!!
The story was enjoyable but not exceptional..
I received this audiobook for free for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #Kelly Rinne, #akalliss

Jimmy Dean's Last Dance is an interesting read for someone who enjoys the Dick Tracy style mystery. Personally, it was a bit on the slow side for me, but this is also out of my typical genre of reading, so please keep that in mind with this review. I think others who enjoy Hollywood themes, the 1950's, and murder mysteries will enjoy this. The narration has a good range of voices and helps bring the story to life. Reader within this genre will love it!

Alternate history at its best: it's 1962, James Dean is alive and he's a friend of Marylin Monroe. When she dies he investigates helped by Elvis Presley.
It may sound crazy but it was a lot of fun, the author did a good job in mixing fiction and historical facts and developing characters that seemed realistic even this side of the universe.
The narrator did an excellent job and I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This was my first time reading an alternative reality book. I did not read the synopsis prior to reading the book but was fascinated with the main characters, so I figured why not, and i was not disappointed.
Jimmy Dean's Last Dance was a very quick read. Jimmy and Marylin had become close enough friends that after her passing she starts to haunt him to see the truth of her death. Jimmy soon calls an old friend Elvis to help him along with his journey. Along the way they find themselves in the wrong place and wrong time and get mixed up with agencies looking to harm the president.
I thought that the narrator had done a phenomenal job differentiating the characters and their accents.
I obtained a copy of the audiobook from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

’m finding it difficult to review this book. I admit to not being a super fan of the three MCs (Marilyn Monroe, James Dean & Elvis) but my friend Bob was so this was a sentimental read.

I can’t say this book will be for everyone, you might be too young to know who these people are or you might be a purist & not want or need an alternate history.

So Marilyn’s death is declared a suicide and Dean doesn’t believe it so he enlists Elvis to help him prove it was murder. So the entire conspiracy theory (including JFK) made the story FUN!

I feel the book was written for me. I know who the players are & I’m not so invested in their stories so the spin was spectacular. It really made me think.

I loved the story & have ordered a copy of the hardcover.

Thank you NetGalley & Audion Media, this was a fun book

An interesting premise of Hollywood in an alternate reality still starring its key players at the time as the main characters in the story both leading and being involved in the investigation. However I felt that the actual book was a bit convoluted and seemed to be making fun of these historical figures instead of honouring their memories so therefore it was not the book for me,

This was a different, in a strange way of saying it, story line. I liked that they used real people in the book but how these real people played along in the storyline was really hard to enjoy and believe. I actually felt it was creating a mockery of the actual people it portrayed.

If you asked me what happened in this book I genuinely could not tell you, and I finished it about 3 minutes ago. After reading the blurb I knew that this could go in one of two directions. Either it would be a fun, fresh take on some Hollywood icons, or it would be confusing and strange and unfortunately, it was the latter.

I was so incredibly unengaged by this book. I found myself bored often and just overall not interested in the plot or characters. It’s hard to talk about this book because I really didn’t connect with it, so I don’t have a whole lot to say.

Alliss’ writing was fine but didn’t stand out to me. My issue with this one is that I just didn’t enjoy it.

I would recommend this book to anyone who may be interested in a different take on Marilyn Monroe’s story. Make sure to check trigger warnings, I gave it 1.5/5 stars.

What a clever book with just the right voice for audio narration. A re-imagining of the death of Marilyn Monroe, where Jimmy Dean, Elvis, and others of the day don't buy the story of it being a suicide and start their own investigation. Mystery. Intrigue. Famous characters brought to life through the author's imagination. Has very much the tone of a hard-boiled detective novel. I cared about the characters and looked forward to every chance I got to listen to it. Highly recommend!

I received an advanced copy of Jimmy Dean’s last dance from netgalley, although the opinions are entirely my own.

Have you ever wanted to climb into that painting of the dinner with Jimmy Dean, and Marilyn and Elvis? Just me? This was that experience for me- and I’m there for it!
It was the perfect blend of the nior style, and historical characters. I felt like stepping into that painting and being a part of the mystery. The main narrator is spot on for this book!