From the Heights (Paperback)

Artie Sherman has lived by his wits for seventy plus years. Among his achievements is his role in making his friend a successful playwright while making that friend, unbeknownst to everyone except Artie, the drama critic of New York's most influential newspaper-at the same time. This allows his friend to critique his own play and cover it with encomiums. As a result of the Times' review, his friend becomes the toast of Broadway. Artie's shrewdness can also boomerang and can put him at serious risk of ending up in a cement cutaway on the floor of The East River. When he discovers a play that his friend wrote years before he senses a 'sure thing' since his friend is both the playwright and the Times drama critic. Artie decides to produce the play and as a theater producer he wheels and deals with the wrong people who, not being seasoned theater angels, expect a return on their investments. Artie learns the hard way that there's no such thing as a sure thing. Artie's meeting and his subsequent falling in love with Rita Adler, a truly unusual woman gives him another reason for avoiding a painful, untimely ending. He is captivated by her great Asian-American looks and by her elegant style. Whoever said that opposites attract must have had Artie Sherman and Rita Adler in mind. Fate, acting in concert with Artie's survival instinct, saves him for a life with his beloved Rita.