A Wee Review - Plugged by Eoin Colfer

Dan McEvoy was once an Irish soldier. He did two tours of the Lebanon -- by choice -- which resulted in him spending a little time with the army shrink. A few years later, he left Ireland and found a job at a seedy casino in Cloisters, New Jersey. And there he worked until the day his friend (to use the term loosely) Zeb disappeared. Then Connie, a stripper he had a crush on, ended up dead in the casino parking lot. Now Dan has to find his missing friend-by-default and his dead nearly-girlfriend's killer. Unfortunately, this is going to lead him into the path of a brutal gangster, Mike Madden. And now that his friend Zeb has somehow become the voice of his concscience and a constant companion throughout the adventure, the question is, can Dan hold it together long enough to survive? And what the hell is going on with his hair?

Plugged is Eoin Colfer's first novel aimed at adults and this read will leave you wishing he'd gotten around to this career move a hell of a lot sooner. The characters (especially the protagonist) are big, brash and a bucket-load of fun. The story shoots off on tangents quite regularly yet never seems to drag towards the gut-punch ending. The tone... well, it's got to be read to be fully appreciated. Pick this book up ASAP. The opening pages accost the reader, drag them to all the worst places and charm their metaphorical pants off along the way.

Top shelf.

Reading!

Right, this is getting ridiculous. After I finished reading and thoroughly enjoying The Big O by Declan Burke I gazed upon Mount Brennan-Reading-Pile, now seriously competing with the Mourne Mountains as a tourist attraction in my area. I scratched my head and wondered which of the fine books I should read first. I’ve a number of intriguing specimens lined up for the CSNI dissection treatment, but also a stack of other books outside the crime fiction genre that have been neglected since I started this blog. Decisions, decisions.

I picked up Dublin Noir edited by Ken Bruen. Thought I’d read the first story and if it sucked I’d mercilessly toss it over my shoulder. Eoin Colfer got the opening spot, and his hilarious yet brutal tale, Taking On PJ, left me with no doubt that I’d read the whole collection. Of course, I forgot to bring it to work the next day. I had a copy of John Connolly’s Nocturnes in my backpack though. Ach sure, a wee read of that then. Finished the opening novella and now I feel committed to the damn thing.

Two books on the go? Yeah, I can cope with that. Of course, I had a nosey at Ian Sansom’s opening book from The Mobile Library series last night. Read the first two chapters. Very addictive. Now I want to get stuck in to that.

So, as of last night, three books on the go. I’m an intelligent little fellah. I’ll give it a go. Oh, wait! Aren’t I reading Declan Burke’s new internet novel, A Gonzo Noir? Ah come on, people, you’re killing me! Well, at least that’ll be updated once a week... wait a minute! He’s bloody updated it three times since last Thursday! Feck. No worries though. It’s great stuff. I’ll make time. But I’m leaving it at that. Seriously. I’m not even going to read a road sign until I’m done with one of these things.

But guess what? After a rather scary journey to work, a colleague plonked a copy of John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas on my desk. Told me it was great. Said her daughter was going to read it next, but would have taken a long time to read it, so I should just read it first. I took it without thinking. Said I’d get it back to her in a few days. But, I’ve forbidden myself from even reading the blurb.

Curiosity’s killing me though.

Gah!