Looking for Garbo : a novel / Jon James Miller.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Blending hard-boiled noir and romance into a compelling historical tale, Looking for Garbo is filled with heart and action." -- Foreword Reviews



James Main has a film to make. Seth Moseley has a story to tell. Neither have any idea how looking for Garbo would change their lives. When documentary filmmaker James Main places an ad looking for anyone still above ground who knew movie goddess Greta Garbo, he's delighted when Seth Moseley, a salty old reporter, replies with the promise of an untold story of why the reclusive star left Hollywood at the height of her fame. Dying of emphysema, Seth tells the story of when he was a cut-throat paparazzo stow away aboard the S.S. Athenia, intent on getting a candid photo of Garbo to pay off his gambling debts. Instead, the newshound falls hard for the enigmatic star as soon as he meets her face to face. But all is not what it seems and when war in Europe unexpectedly breaks out while the Athenia is still steaming across the Atlantic, Seth has to single-handedly save the movie star in the middle of an open ocean swarming with Nazis. Their daring escape brings Garbo's film career to a premature end and shatters the lives of both star and reporter. And, unbeknownst to James, hearing their story decades later will change his own life forever.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Miller's debut blends history and melodrama with mixed results. In 2000, documentary filmmaker James Main is obsessively researching the life of legendary screen goddess Greta Garbo when he encounters an old man, Seth Moseley, who has a doozy of a yarn about Garbo's secret scheme to prevent WWII by assassinating Adolf Hitler. Flash back to 1939; Seth, then a scrappy young reporter eager to pay off some gambling debts, stows away on the ocean liner Athenia, headed from New York to England, to get a story about the elusive Garbo, who's aboard. He soon discovers that the ship is full of disguised conspirators and is being stalked by a German U-boat. When war in Europe breaks out while the ship is in mid-journey, Seth's mission becomes a lot more complicated. Neither Seth's adventures nor James's emotional struggles are especially convincing, but readers who appreciate the charm and daffiness of old pulp magazines may have fun. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Drawing inspiration from Greta Garbo's comment that because Hitler was a big fan of hers, she might have had an opportunity to assassinate him, as well as reporter Seth Moseley's impromptu interview with Garbo aboard an ocean liner, Miller crafts a historical yarn that asks, What if Garbo had actually tried to carry out a plan to kill Hitler? Aspiring documentary filmmaker James Main travels with his crass boss to Connecticut to interview Seth Moseley, who is dying of emphysema, in the hope of extracting a story he's kept secret for decades. But when Seth's tale appears to be a hoax made up to get attention, James' boss fires him and storms off. When injured, James winds up in the hospital right next to Seth, where Seth reveals the true story of his hunt for Garbo on the S.S. Athenia, which involved a romp with a sultry Swedish barmaid, impersonating a porter, and eventually coming face-to-face with the movie star, along with several Nazis. Screenwriter Miller's first novel is an entertaining and spirited, old-fashioned caper.--Kristine Huntley Copyright 2019 Booklist