Waifs of the Wasteland

At the height of Prohibition in 1925 Hollywood, Joe Holder, an ex-con just released from prison, seeks to reclaim a lost love. But there is a hitch – in the years since he has been locked up, she has become a movie star. Amid the glitter and grit of silent filmmaking, Joe soon finds he has two rivals for Rose Allen’s affection – an actor named Yancey Dix and Hollywood itself. Yet, Joe cannot give up this woman who is tattooed in his heart. He must win her back, thus beginning his conversion from a roughneck to “a gent what can star in his own flickers.” Told by Pooch, a pickpocket and Joe’s sidekick, WAIFS takes the reader back to the first golden age of tinseltown. It is a hectic world filled not only with movie folk but also with bootleggers and socialist-labor leaders, sassy flappers and newshounds. In their midst appears a genuine tough guy who reaches for a star – and nearly captures her.