Heat (Goldman novel)

Heat
First edition
Author	William Goldman
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	Warner Books
Publication date	1985
Pages	244
ISBN	0-446-51275-3

Heat is a 1985 novel by William Goldman about a soldier of fortune in Las Vegas.^[1]

Plot

The novel is about a man named Nick Escalante, nicknamed "the Mex" by his friends, who hires himself out in Las Vegas not as a mercenary or bodyguard but as a service listed in the Yellow Pages directory under "Chaperone." He eschews firearms but is particularly lethal with sharp objects.

Escalante has one ambition, which is to save up enough money so that he can move to Venice, Italy for the rest of his life. The trouble is, Nick is a compulsive gambler.

When he comes into a large sum of money after coming to the aid of a woman friend who has been physically abused in a Vegas hotel suite by DeMarco, an arrogant mobster, Nick ends up losing it at the blackjack tables. He is hired by a meek millionaire named Cyrus Kinnick on the pretense of needing a bodyguard, but in actuality the small, modest man seeks lessons in how to be a tougher individual who can properly defend himself.

Background

Goldman says he began the novel with "that main character and I had that opening sequence and I'd been in Vegas a lot and it's such a terrible place to be a compulsive gambler and try to earn a living there."^[2]

Reception

The Chicago Tribune called the book "a casual blend of novel, screenplay" which was "not quite as good" as his earlier novels.^[3]

Adaptations

The book was adapted into a 1986 film that starred Burt Reynolds. It was later remade in a 2015 version starring Jason Statham.

References

↑ 'Las Vegas, Love It or Leave It: HEAT By William Goldman'. 244pp. New York: Warner Books. $15.50. By David Mamet. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 19 May 1985: BR15.
↑ Egan p 199
↑ FICTION: Goldman's 'Heat': A casual blend of novel, screenplay Cook, Bruce. Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file) [Chicago, Ill] 30 June 1985: m31.

Egan, Sean, William Goldman: The Reluctant Storyteller, Bear Manor Media 2014

Works by William Goldman

Plays	Tenderloin (1960) Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961) A Family Affair (1962) Misery (2012)

Novels	The Temple of Gold (1957) Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow (1958) Soldier in the Rain (1960) Boys and Girls Together (1964) No Way to Treat a Lady (1964) The Thing of It Is... (1967) Father's Day (1971; sequel to The Thing of It Is) The Princess Bride (1973) Wigger (1974) Marathon Man (1974) Magic (1976) Tinsel (1979) Control (1982) The Silent Gondoliers (1983) The Color of Light (1984) Heat (1985) Brothers (1986)

Films	Masquerade (1965) Harper (1966) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) The Hot Rock (1972) The Stepford Wives (1975) The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) Marathon Man (1976) All the President's Men (1976) A Bridge Too Far (1977) Magic (1978) Mr. Horn (1979, TV) Heat (1987) The Princess Bride (1987) Misery (1990) Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) Year of the Comet (1992) Chaplin (1992) Maverick (1994) The Chamber (1996) The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) Absolute Power (1997) The General's Daughter (1999) Hearts in Atlantis (2001) Dreamcatcher (2003) Wild Card (2015)

Non-fiction	The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway (1969) The Story of 'A Bridge Too Far' (1977) Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983) Wait Till Next Year (with Mike Lupica, 1988) Hype and Glory (1990) Which Lie Did I Tell? (2000) The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays (2000)

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