Sunday 12 December 2010

Review: Boomerang by Alan Hutcheson

I've been reading a lot of thrillers and murder mysteries so fancying a change and something humourous I thought I would give this, which has received some very good reviews on Amazon, a try. Boomerang is an out and out comedy caper filled with a cast of dysfunctional characters. They are all trying to get their hands on a boomerang containing secrets dating back to the time of J Edgar Hoover. We have Ted and Jerry, reluctant partners who take on the job from an obscure covert agency just for the money. Doreen's son had the boomerang and was meant to have made serious money for passing it on, but botched the job and now she, accompanied by sister Amelia, is crossing the globe to retrieve it, followed by a cross-bow wielding albino assassin. Then there's Bethie, the former cheerleader who wants to avenge a wrong inflicted on her great-grandad.

The story is told from a host of viewpoints, including that of a dog, yet somehow the author manages to ensure they all receive enough attention, putting plenty of flesh on the bones of the various characters (and believe me the ones above aren't the extent of it) The under-employed employees of AABC were particularly amusing, I could just imagine their situation is probably too close for comfort to some government departments.

It was definitely a laugh out loud book at points, although it didn't have me in stitches in the way say a Ben Elton book often does. I liked the narrative style and despite the number of characters and everything going on never felt like I was struggling to keep up with who was who, or what they were doing and why. This is a book I really liked, good fun and light-hearted, and another Kindle 72p bargain.

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