Stuff to Die For

Stuff #1

by Don Bruns

Best friends James Lessor and Skip Moore are hardly on the fast track. While James works as a line cook at Cap'n Crab, Skip spends his days selling - or rather, attempting to sell - security systems to people who (a) have no money, and (b) have nothing they care to protect. James and Skip aren't upwardly mobile, but they're about to get literally mobile when James spends a surprise inheritance on a white box truck. An investment in the future, he surmises, as these two are starting a business - solely devoted to hauling other people's stuff. But the fledgling business takes a shocking turn when James and Skip unload the contents of their first moving job and find some unexpected cargo - a bloody human finger. James and Skip must scramble to stay one step ahead of the perpetrators of the gruesome crime in this witty, gritty mystery about big dreams, big ideas - and big trouble. Instead of chasing the American dream, James and Skip will be running for their lives

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Contemporary, Thriller

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

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

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

20-something friends James and Skip are starting a moving company, but in their first load of stuff, they find a severed finger with their high school class ring on it. It took me a while to get into the book because there is more language and drinking than I normally like, but I was soon hooked by the characters and intriguing story.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Have Truck Will Haul’
That’s what the business cards say that James Lessor has printed for their new business endeavor.

James was Skip’s best friend since third grade and at the age of 24 he should have never, ever followed James into the latest get-rich scheme. They were roommates and lived in a dumpy apartment across from the Marlin’s stadium. Skip had a job he hated selling security systems in an area where people didn’t own enough to protect. James worked at a local fast food joint but was always thinking of ways to earn lots of money. After all, in James own words “People are more mobile than ever, and they have more stuff than ever. They need trucks to haul their stuff.”

Skip wasn’t to sure about this latest idea to make their fortune but he talked it over with his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Emily. Skip loved Emily but knew they weren’t in the same class. She came from one of the richest families in Carol City and he was from the opposite side of the tracks. She had a good head on her shoulders though and knew business so he trusted her judgement. Em actually thought it was a good idea and knew someone who was separated from her husband and needed a large amount of stuff moved.

First job, sounds good, money is great - some question of the soon-to-be ex being involved with terrorist but ……why would that effect James and Skip?

After arriving at the warehouse where they were to unload the contents of the truck, a box of mail falls out. James was picking up the mail to throw back into the box when he came across a bloody envelope. Nobody could help looking into the envelope right? A severed finger falls out with a familiar class ring - the same class kind of class ring that both Skip and James had. Now what?

They should NEVER have opened the envelope. That one act begins a crazy race to find an old school chum who just happened to save Skip’s life years before. They persist despite threats, attempts on their lives and beatings. All leading to a very surprising end which includes the CIA and a plan for war.

Mr. Bruns has a clever idea for a mystery. It was a first-rate read that has a theme that is fresh. The characters are real flaws and all. It is easy to sympathize with Skip reading how he just falls into whatever trouble James gets him involved in. James is a likeable character that is always thinking of business ideas and is sure that he has fallen on the winner with the hauling business. Since this is the first in a new series by Mr. Bruns it will be interesting to see what kind of trouble they get themselves into next.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I considered giving this book one star. However, I usually reserve one star ratings to books that I actually close up and put away. This one was close.

The plot was fairly predictable. The characters were annoying, and I there were far too many loose ends.

[Joan Leicht · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book. I believe the author's intention is to have the reader care about the characters, but I did not. Basically I wanted to finish it so I could move onto another book.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start to the series. I'm looking forward to the next book

[AnnieM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as I wanted to it to be. It had promise from time to time it could have been the narrator, it could have been me, it could have been the story line.

It started slow, but picked up with the severed finger in the envelope and then exploding building. But then it slowed again.

I found the female character annoying. The male lead to be dull and a bit simpering. Worst of all was tieless male's friend who alternated between irritating and just plain worthless.

I plodded through just so I could finish it, but at a little over 4 hours in, I couldn't make myself care about the characters.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

From a review I read, I was expecting some witty dialogue, sprinkled with lots of cleverly used movie lines and engaging young protagonists. I found none of that and I really am not sure why I finished it. On top of that, the books suffered from the page-and-a-half chapter syndrome. Maybe some of the later books are better, but I won't by trying any more of this series.

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about 2 buddies who get into a business together & purchase a big moving-type of a truck. In one of their moves they find a human finger!... Who does the finger belong to? Who put in there and why? You will have to read to find out!

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending was anti-climactic, and the story as a whole lacked any redeeming depth. Pass.

[Jeff Benham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to BookBub for having this on special! First time reading this author, but not the last. James and Skip have been best buds for years, still looking to make their first million. They start a moving business that moves them right into trouble and into the middle of a gun smuggling operation. Good thing they have an Angel on their side! Very entertaining read!

[John R. Goyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and a light read - reasonably good story and characters that amuse and interest. A couple good but not all that original twists to the tale - I'll check out the next volume and see if they grow on me.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh!! This author thinks he’s Tim Dorsey, and he is not!! Serge and Coleman are the only ones who can successfully cause murder and mayhem in Florida. The two Floridiots in this book are just that! Couldn’t get past the first few chapters. 👎

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skip Moore and James Lessor are best friends and typical guys in their early 20s: immature, living in a ramshackle apartment in south Florida and always believing that soon they will be living the high life. Actually, James is the one who has those goals and gets Skip to go along with whatever he has in mind to achieve them. In reality, James is a short order cook and Skip a bad security systems salesman. When James receives a small inheritance, he uses it to buy a truck and proclaims that he and Skip are now going into the hauling business. He conservatively estimates that they will be making the big bucks within two years. Those of us who are older and wiser know how likely that is to happen.

Skip's girlfriend, Emily, who actually is from a wealthy family, finds the guys their first job, which is moving all the stuff that belonged to a Miami woman's philandering husband to a storage unit. All goes well until they go to unpack the truck and find an envelope that is leaking. When they open it, they are horrified to find a severed finger inside, which has a class ring on it from the same year as their high school graduation. Before long, Skip figures out that the finger belongs to Vic Maitlin Fuentes. During his school years, Skip faced a perilous situation and Vic risked his life to save him. Skip figures it's time for him to return the favor.

When they contact Rick Fuentes, the guy whose stuff they moved and Vic's father, he asks them to find his son. Easier said than done, as there are a bunch of bad guys in the picture. In an effort to find a clue, the guys open some more of the mail that was in Rick's stuff and uncover a scheme involving Los Historicos who fund revolutionaries to reclaim their assets in Cuba. Skip and James try to play it on the up-and-up but instead become more deeply entangled in a very dangerous situation.

Bruns has scored a winner with this first book outside of his usual series. I really liked the lead characters who just kept getting in deeper and deeper in spite of their efforts to do the right thing. They never did anything illegal; anything stupid they did was usually in an effort to right a previous wrong. And even though they had goals for the future, the most important thing to both of them was their friendship.

The writing was fluid, and the book moved along nicely. There was one sub-plot that I thought was resolved in too facile a manner, but all was forgiven by the way that the author delivered the resolution. The very last chapter in the book cast a huge seed of doubt on the assumptions I had made about what happened during the conclusion of the narrative. I'm still puzzling over what the truth is. I doubt that I'll ever know for sure but have no questions about the fact that I was very entertained by Stuff to Die For.

[Barbara Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Stuff ti Die For would make a better movie than it does a book, which is something I never say. On the other hand, it is a funny book that will entertain you during this season when we all seem to accumulate "stuff."

That's the reasoning behind one of our main character's latest get rich scheme. He is James Lessor and while he's waiting for one of his ideas to actually work, he works at a fast food place and lives in a crummy little apartment with his best friend since third grade, Eugene "Skip" Moore. Skip also has a dead-end job so they mainly live on food from James' job and beer. They went to college at Sam and Dave University and have student loan debt to pay off, but even so, when James gets a small inheritance, he uses it to buy a big box truck. They will go into business hauling all that stuff people pile up and don't have room for. Forget that neither knows how to drive a truck and certainly not how to back one up.

Skip's girlfriend, Emily (good job, wealthy family, lives in high-rise) gets them their first hauling job. Jackie Fuentes has tossed out her cheating husband and needs someone to haul off all of his stuff. Accidentally, our heroes find an envelope leaking blood in the stuff. Inside is a finger with a class ring - their class! It belongs to Vic Maitlin, a guy who once saved Skip's life and is an old boyfriend of Emily's. Turns out his father is Rick Fuentes, aforesaid cheating husband. Vic is being held hostage. Everything goes downhill from there, with James and Skip right in the middle of it.

I know all of this is silly and highly improbable, but that's why it's so much fun. Just forget logic and have a good time with this one. After all, don't you have enough stress this month? I got this e-book free on amazon.com a long time ago, and this was the perfect time to read it.

Recommended for fun and stress relief
Source: free e-book Amazon.com

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Lessor and Eugene ‘Skip’ Moore are lifelong friends and recent college grads with dead end jobs. So to better their lot in life they buy a box truck and go into business hauling peoples stuff. Skips girlfriend Em gets them a gig delivering some ones ex-husbands stuff to a storage unit. It is here that the fun begins and they get dragged into a kidnapping plot when they find what they think is a severed digit with the sons ring attached. I won’t spoil the plot but let’s just say things go from bad to worse when kidnapping becomes a hostile takeover of a small Caribbean country. There are other complications that I won’t get into.
Mr. Burns has the reader laughing through the plot of the book as well as twists and turns in the story that make it a true nail biter. It is a well written Hardy Boys for our times mystery and deserves 5 bullet casings for a well told story. This reviewer looks forward to other stories in the stuff series and other tales by the author.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this clever story about two best friends who keep digging themselves deeper and deeper into trouble and hope it turns into a series. However, I found it really distracting that there were so many editing mistakes in this book! I realize some get through sometimes, but the number of grammar mistakes (such as using "who's" for "whose" several times) really bothered me. I like Mr. Bruns and his work (songs included) but his publisher is doing him no favors by sticking him with a second class editor... Hey, Don! Give me a call - I can do a much better job for you! ;-)

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one for the treadmill. Again, I got this last year when I first got my Kindle. I liked it well enough. It felt like it thought it was much more clever than it was, though. Much was made about the use of movie quotes, but there weren't very many and most of them weren't very good. The two main characters continually made awful decisions and kept getting themselves deeper and deeper in trouble, based on their own awful judgement. Overall, it was fairly readable and light, so it made it fine for the gym when it's read it fits and starts.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook, and was very disappointed with the narrator, to the point I'm not sure if I was unhappy with the book or just the way he read it. Nothing against Joe Barrett, but his tough, no-nonsense voice would be better paired with the work of Elmore Leonard or Louis L'Amour, not the misadventures of two hapless 20- somethings who keep finding themselves in deeper and deeper trouble. If you're interested in the book, read it to yourself.

[Caro Dosé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun concept...two airhead boys with delusions of direction palled up with one reasonable "rich bitch," and looking for trouble to get into. On that they succeed. It was a fun "read" (actually, I enjoyed it in audio.) I have the next couple of books in the series and look forward to getting into the next one.

The book has a couple laugh-out-loud scenes and is a lighthearted, fun read.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book...almost ordered it for my Kindle but hesitated as I'd never heard of the author. Found it at the library and am glad I checked it out. Very clear storyline, plot follows, good thriller/mystery; very much like a Robert Crais mystery.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normal everyday guys trying to get ahead decide to start a moving truck business.
Lots of suspense, a little history, some mystery and some shoot-em-up scenes.
It was a pretty good read that ended the story well but kept you hanging.
Just wish I knew more about Angel!

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a free Kindle book read on another plane ride. It was a passable novel, given the history I've experienced with other freebies. A little intrigue and a decent plot, although not a literary masterpiece by any measure!

[Shannon Esposito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humor, suspense, great characters. Highly recommend

[Rick-Founder JM CM BOOK CLUB · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny, exciting- a delight to read

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fun little mystery . Kind of a Hardy-Boys grown up duet getting into trouble and fighting through mischief.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far so good. I really like his style, the story is gripping but not ugly, and the people for the most part are real. I think I will look for more by this author.

[Tonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, although it was pretty predictible. I like the dialogue, and the characters were fun.

[Booklover]

tbr

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed fun. Great start to the Stuff series. No cliffhanger ending either.