A Gambling Man by David Baldacci

 I love David Baldacci and have enjoyed his other series (Amos Decker, Will Robie, Atlee Pine, etc.). But sadly, I'm not a fan of his new Archer series. They're set in the 1950s and it's like he's trying to write a new Sam Spade but it's just not working. Plus this one had the most convoluted plot, it was hard to keep track of the story line. 

Archer decides to head to California to apprentice with an experienced PI (who it turns out has fallen on some hard times). Along the way, he meets up with a girl named Liberty, who also wants to head to California to become a Hollywood star. Archer's first case leads him into a quagmire of political corruption (that kind of reminded me of the movie Chinatown). I skimmed through the second half of the book to see how it ended, then moved on to something else.

 I hope David B is working on one of his other series. I'd love to see the new adventures of Amos or Will or Atlee.