Stuff to Spy For

Stuff #3

by Don Bruns

Best friends James Lessor and Skip Moore are still stuck in dead-end jobs, still living in their ratty apartment in Carol City, Florida, and still dreaming of hitting the big time. It seems those dreams are finally within reach when James lands a job to install a state-of-the-art security system for Synco Systems. There's a huge commission-and plenty of strings-attached. To collect on the cash, James will have to provide additional services by assuming the role of pretend boyfriend of Sarah Crumbly, an employee who's having an affair with Sandler Conroy, Synco's married president.When Sandler's wife offers James a tidy sum for the dirty details about what's going on at Synco, James and Skip resurrect their entrepreneurial dreams and go into the business of being spies. The spymobile-their beloved, rattletrap of a boxtruck-is on its last legs, and they'll have to spend a small fortune on spy equipment, but there's no business like spy business.In this spy game, James and Skip may be the ones who get played-or worse.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Murder Mystery, Action

Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Don Bruns is a writer, novelist, musician, songwriter, painter, cook, advertising executive and stand up comic who has no idea what he wants to be when he grows up. He's the author of nine books and was editor of the mystery/music anthology A Merry Band Of Murderers.

Don's published novels cover two series. One, a Caribbean thriller collection and two, the Stuff series, a humorous look at two twenty-four year old guys in South Florida who start their own detective agency and end up neck - deep in trouble.

Jamaica Blue, Barbados Heat, South Beach Shakedown, St. Barts Breakdown and Bahama Burnout make up the Caribbean books. The Stuff series consists of Stuff To Die For, Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, Stuff To Spy For, and Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. Bruns is currently working on the fifth Stuff book, Too Much Stuff.

He currently resides on Florida's West coast.

Bahama Burnout/ Finalist, National Best Books Award - Mystery/Suspense 2009
South Beach Shakedown/ Winner National Best Books Award -Fiction/Suspense 2006
South Beach Shakedown/ Winner, Indie Excellence, 2006 Award - Mystery/Suspense
South Beach Shakedown/ Winner USA Book Award, 2006 - Mystery
Stuff Dreams Are Made Of/ Winner Indie Excellence Award 2009 - Mystery/Suspense
Stuff Dreams Are Made Of/IndieBound Notable, October 2008
Stuff Dreams Are Made Of/Winner Florida Writer's Association -
Stuff To Die For/ Starred review Booklist

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skip Moore gets a contract to put in a new security system for a major company. This will make him some good money, and he is in need of good money as he lives with a roommate James Lessor in a rundown apartment. When Skip goes to Synco Systems to make contact with the people there and start making the inventory for what will be needed for the job is when Skip steps into something that he couldn't control, but the money that was offered to do side spying jobs was just to much for Skip to refuse. As Skip needs people to work the job he hires his roommate James, and a guy in the apartment J.J.. Then as situations go from bad to worse Emily get pulled into the mix of tragedy and mayhem.

I really like the simple mystery in this story. I haven't given a lot of details because I wouldn't want to ruin the story for others. It had language, not a lot and didn't make it terrible to read. Stuff to Spy For is a perfect story of the snowball effect and how greed can make one do things that normally they wouldn't do.

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty bland story, actually. Drab characters bumbling about with little intent by the seat of their pants. The "hook" at the beginning where we learn that the protagonist dies is pathetic, especially with regards to how it plays out. The characters barely understand enough about what's going on to move the story forward and the reader is left wondering how this series made it to three books.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Brun's characters come into the story fully fledged, at least they appear to be, although from the Prologue it would suggest the story is being told by a dead man. Nevertheless, the characters at the beginning are definitely like comfy socks, well-worn and comfortable, and so they should, this is the third book in the "Stuff" series.

Still acting in their high school personae, these two bumbling lifelong friends are still chasing the American Dream. Even with Skip's Business School training he is still floundering in the security business he is now working for, while James works for Cap’n Crab.

An underachiever, Skip is put in charge of installing security for a government department (a big secret everyone seems to know), the Department of Defense, and it begins to look like they may finally be getting somewhere in life. He hires his crew, including James, and as an afterthought he also hires their neighbour who has not particularly been of interest to them, but seemed to have some knowledge of the equipment.

Skip's first order of business though is to play the part of boyfriend to the boss' girl-friend to throw his wife off the scent of infidelity. The plot is complicated and fun, I loved the interaction of all the characters, including those who have made their first appearance in this book. I am at a slight loss because I have not read the first two, but this works just as well as a stand-alone and is a very enjoyable and fast read.

However, Skip is no sooner introduced to the project than the first body turns up his feet under his desk and is found laid out behind said desk, very dead. Then they learn that other people on the government project have gradually gone missing. To complicate matters more, there are some very strange characters populating the book, and more spy intelligence equipment is soon purchased, or borrowed in order to get to the bottom of things. Skip is overwhelmed with women wanting his attention, not a common state. James is the Hardy Boys fan who is the catalyst to getting the equipment, but who to spy on? There are so many possibilities, not to mention that they are being tracked themselves.

Overall, this is definitely an entertaining book, complete with espionage, mystery, murder, spies spying on spies, and a romp that kept me reading. It was hard to put the book down. I most certainly will read the first two in the series.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not your usual spy story but Don Bruns has written characters that are entertaining and likeable. I had not read the first two books in the series but Bruns does a good job of introducing Skip Moore and his best friend James, rommates who have dead-end jobs. James is always thinking of ways they can make money though these sceems often backfire. Skip works for a company that installs security systems and has just landed a huge job to put an entire new system in Synco System. Unfortunately, a cute girl from Skip’s past, who works at Synco, is also offering Skip extra money to pretend she is his girlfriend. The problem, Skip has a girlfriend and this girl is having an affair with the married boss of Synco Systems who is married. Skip accepts but does tell his girlfriend.

Things become more complicated when James comes to help install the equipment. You see, James is one of those guys who has “bright” ideas and manages to get Skip in other his head. They rent surveillance equipment and soon realize they are being followed by a GPS system, that Synco is involved in secret government contracts, and nothing is as it appears. Can Skip and James manage to install the equipment, get the bonuses and manage not get killed?

Bruns keeps the action moving with plenty of danger and intrigue along with humor. You are rooting for these two unlikely spies and you keep guessing until the very end. Burns has written a book with quirky amateur detectives and I plan on going back and reading the first two in this series.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Stuff to Spy For' was one of those books that's sucks you in and doesn't let go. Mainly due to Skip and James and their ability to get in the middle of some real insane scenarios. I love their personalities. The duo had me shaking my head at times at their dumb luck. They turned out to be a great pair. I liked the other characters as well. What a storyline. It was well written and definitely had me wanting to find out what was going to happen next. A great add to your tbr list. Recommended. I look forward to reading more of their adventurous stories.

[Annie]

The author, Don Bruns, was hawking this at the local Borders (he's a "snowbird"); I got caught and ended up buying the book...after Mr. Bruns drew his rendition of the cover art, autographed it AND promised dinner (thinking he'd say anything to sell a book...and his wife probably wouldn't be crazy about the dinner invite). Will let you know if it was all worth it...

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep trying not to like Bruns. yet he makes me chuckle.

[Mark Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Skip Moore lands a sale for a company looking to upgrade their security system, he thinks he’s finally made the big time. He even gets his best friend, James Lessor, a job on the installation team. Then Skip is offered a couple of extra assignments with big paydays. What could possibly go wrong? A suspicious death for starters. Then there are things that aren’t adding up, and evidence that someone is spying on them. Can the pair figure out what is going on?

This series is a mixed bag for me, and this book was no exception. I appreciate the friendship between Skip and James, but the ideas and James leads them into make me smack my head sometimes. I appreciate some of the humor, but other bits make me cringe. The plot was compelling, but the ending was rushed. And a key scene makes little sense (why are the characters there?). Then there’s also the needless tease in the opening. Yet, I plan to keep going forward with this series. If you pick the book up, keep in mind that it came out in 2009, which explains some of the dated technology. If the premise sounds interesting pick up the series. Otherwise, you can skip them.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Dennis D. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I gave the second star for effort.

[Joe]

Like a Tom Clancy novel with comedy. Loved it.

[Susan Hill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only read the first few pages. Not my type of book.