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Fleeced
When Dominic Peach is sent to the former Soviet republic of Belugastan to save an endangered wild sheep he is not pleased - his main interest is insinuating himself into elderly people's wills, his job as an environmental campaigner for Save Our Species a mere front. And he'd hoped, by rigging their database to make sheep his one responsibility, that he'd got SOS sewn up. But it turns out Belugastan is more fun than he'd thought, not least due to its colourful head of state, Vinnie Jones lookalike Tim the First who, desperate to obtain foreign currency for his kingdom, has invented the argali as a lure to cash-rich game hunters, props courtesy of his friend Erik's motorbike and his mum's sheepskin coat. But when the hunters include a mad Texan millionairess and her gun-crazy sons Hubba and Bubba, Dominic and Tim discover that chasing wild sheep can be a very hairy business indeed...
- GenresFiction
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 16, 2023
Some funny bits in it but plot and story is ridiculous
October 25, 2014
Dominic Peach works at the Save our Species organization in London – or rather, he tries his best not to work. After several successful years of loafing about and enduring his sophisticated girlfriend, Antoinette, he gets sent away on assignment to save the highly endangered Beluga argali argali. Meantime, in the very young country of Belugastan, numerous members of the parliament (as well as want-to-be members) are plotting their own shaky plans for personal gain.
What I appreciated most about Fleeced was the constant disorder and chaos that just makes this story work. Once in a while I think it’s necessary to live yourself into a fictional world, not of fantasy or suspense or fairy-tale romance, but utter bedlam. It’s sort of therapeutic.
There were a few things that bothered me about the book. The grammar was occasionally clumsy or puzzling and although the plot was fairly intricate it was not jaw dropping. The slight twist at the end was almost too unexpected; there were no clues pointing to this earlier on and it made it seem as if it was something the author added as an afterthought. However, these bugs did not diminish the entertainment value of the story and there was plenty of humour – sometimes dry, sometimes lightweight.
The main character was not my favourite one; Dominic is a lazy, pathetic, slightly perverted 29-year old who often acts with hazy motives. Being tall and having above average looks and an English accent, I can’t help imagining that if this was made into a movie (many years ago of course) a young Hugh Grant would have been perfect for this role. Although Dominic started out gutless, I have to say that his character grew on me as the story progressed. The other characters were quite unique and colourful, my favourites probably being the charming, sleazy Erik and the demented duo Hubba and Bubba.
Georgina Wroe creates a setting for the greater part of the story that is odd, but interesting. The fictional (and very small) country of Belugastan is located on a piece of coastal land off the Caspian Sea (where no Google street cart has gone before). The locals are illegally exploiting the caviar sources and up in the mountains the native Yurt people are waiting for the reincarnated return of their limping king. The political procedures are pretty much made up as they go along and the country’s economic monopoly is held by an egoistic vodka producer called Zhubelovski.
In conclusion, Fleeced is not a masterpiece, but its ideas are highly original and I found it really entertaining and mood lightening. Just what I needed!
What I appreciated most about Fleeced was the constant disorder and chaos that just makes this story work. Once in a while I think it’s necessary to live yourself into a fictional world, not of fantasy or suspense or fairy-tale romance, but utter bedlam. It’s sort of therapeutic.
There were a few things that bothered me about the book. The grammar was occasionally clumsy or puzzling and although the plot was fairly intricate it was not jaw dropping. The slight twist at the end was almost too unexpected; there were no clues pointing to this earlier on and it made it seem as if it was something the author added as an afterthought. However, these bugs did not diminish the entertainment value of the story and there was plenty of humour – sometimes dry, sometimes lightweight.
The main character was not my favourite one; Dominic is a lazy, pathetic, slightly perverted 29-year old who often acts with hazy motives. Being tall and having above average looks and an English accent, I can’t help imagining that if this was made into a movie (many years ago of course) a young Hugh Grant would have been perfect for this role. Although Dominic started out gutless, I have to say that his character grew on me as the story progressed. The other characters were quite unique and colourful, my favourites probably being the charming, sleazy Erik and the demented duo Hubba and Bubba.
Georgina Wroe creates a setting for the greater part of the story that is odd, but interesting. The fictional (and very small) country of Belugastan is located on a piece of coastal land off the Caspian Sea (where no Google street cart has gone before). The locals are illegally exploiting the caviar sources and up in the mountains the native Yurt people are waiting for the reincarnated return of their limping king. The political procedures are pretty much made up as they go along and the country’s economic monopoly is held by an egoistic vodka producer called Zhubelovski.
In conclusion, Fleeced is not a masterpiece, but its ideas are highly original and I found it really entertaining and mood lightening. Just what I needed!
July 18, 2013
This started off good like a cross between a Ben Elton book and one by that guy who supports Stoke City. It was only after a while that I realised that I didn't like the characters (I didn't DISlike them either), that I didn't care about the plot and that reading it was taking up my time when I could have been doing something else. That was on page 192.
At that point I abandoned the book and donated it to a charity shop. It will probably fit in with some people's tastes.
At that point I abandoned the book and donated it to a charity shop. It will probably fit in with some people's tastes.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews