The Tuxedo Society by Paul Rudnick

Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026--San Antonio

The Tuxedo Society by Paul Rudnick was not as good a book as I expected based on reviews.  The problem for me was at the beginning and at the end.  The beginning was filled too much with the main character showing off how he could relate almost everything in life to a movie or a Broadway show character or its performer in a witty way.  It fairly quickly became exhuasting and boring.  The end had another stretch of this.  In the middle was an interesting heist story.  An unsuccessful actor working in a candle shop, he was recruited to be a part of a group of secret agents solving crimes led by a former Navy Seal who had been kicked out of the Navy for being gay and later, after don't ask/don't tell occurred was asked to return.  Instead, the Seal requested that he be allowed or organize his own elite group for special assignments.  In the book, the Seal has recruited the main character because of his acting background to help with a special heist job.  The group is tasked with helping the First Lady, educated and trained as a top archaeologist, investigate whether the rumor about the historic diadem is true  The 3 stones and the crown itself which supposedly had secret powers each bestowed to the person(s) in possession of them, had long ago been dismantled and hidden to keep anyone else from attaining the powers that could come from the parts or the whole.  The rumor, if true, is that the 3 stones are on the market and bad men are trying to buy the to gain the powers they can bestow.  It becomes an extended adventure for this elite group--The Tuxedo Society.  They are trying intercept the stones first to protect society from three men with bad intentions (each wanting one of the stones for its specific powers).  Then it finally becomes a hunt for a worse person wanting all 3 stones and the crown to restore the whole diadem so that they could have all of the powers bestowed by it.  It's an interesting adventure story involving the President and First Lady, the Pope, and multiple wealthy individuals including a dastardly protestant minister running for President.  It's just too bad it is bookended by the rather tiring beginning and ending.  I gave the book 3 1/2 stars out of 5.