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Fool's Paradise
The paradise in this entertaining novel is the area around San Diego, California--Coronado, California, to be exact. The fools are John Ray Mooney, a jinxed felon just out of Folsom prison; a struggling businesswoman; a hapless firefighter; a cop-turned-bank guard; and Billy Ho, a con man who has the locals believing he is the Prince of the Sultanate of Yip, a small nation in the South Pacific. Mooney targets one of the local banks for a robbery--it always seems to have plenty of cash to pay Navy salaries. While planning the robbery, he meets the Prince and decides he would make a better, and easier, mark. When Mooney discovers the Prince is an imposter, they join forces to plan the bank heist. The daring twosome welcome the businesswoman, firefighter, and bank guard to help them--until they realize loot split two ways is better than dividing it five ways. Fool's Paradise is a humorous look at crooks and the illusions that lead them to seek something for nothing. Steve Brewer is the author of nine previous crime novels and has a talent for combining felons and comedy. If you like Carl Hiassen, Donald Westlake, or Elmore Leonard, you will enjoy Fool's Paradise. "Brewer writes with an easy, low-key humor."- Albuquerque Journal "Steve Brewer just keeps getting better."-Tony Hillerman
190 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Steve Brewer
63 books37 followersSTEVE BREWER is the author of more than 30 books, including the recent crime novels UPSHOT and COLD CUTS.
His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a 2009 independent Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna.
Under his pen name Max Austin, Brewer wrote three hard-boiled crime stories set in Albuquerque, NM. The first, DUKE CITY SPLIT, was published by Alibi/Random House in April 2014. DUKE CITY HIT followed in December 2014. DUKE CITY DESPERADO came out in June 2015.
Brewer's short fiction has appeared in the several anthologies, and he's published articles in magazines such as Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.
Brewer has taught at the University of New Mexico, the Midwest Writers Workshop and the Tony Hillerman Writers Seminar. He regularly speaks at mystery conventions, and was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe, NM, in 2011.
He served two years on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and twice served as an Edgar Awards judge. He's also a member of International Thriller Writers and SouthWest Writers.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Brewer worked as a daily journalist for 22 years, then wrote a syndicated weekly column for another decade. The column, called The Home Front, produced the raw material for his humor book TROPHY HUSBAND.
Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.
More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com.
BOOKS BY STEVE BREWER
"Lonely Street," 1994, Pocket Books
"Baby Face," 1995, Pocket Books
"Witchy Woman," 1996, St. Martin's Press
"Shaky Ground," 1997, St. Martin's Press
"Dirty Pool," 1999, St. Martin's Press
"End Run," 2000, Intrigue Press
"Crazy Love," 2001, Intrigue Press
"Cheap Shot," 2002, Intrigue Press
"Trophy Husband," 2003, University of New Mexico Press
"Bullets," 2003, Intrigue Press
"Fool's Paradise," 2003, UNM Press
"Boost," 2004, Speck Press
"Sanity Clause," a novella, in "The Last Noel," 2004, Worldwide
"Bank Job," 2005, Intrigue Press
"Whipsaw," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Monkey Man," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Payoff," a short story in the anthology "Damn Near Dead," 2006, Busted Flush
"Cutthroat," 2007, Bleak House
"Limbo," a short story in the Mystery Writers of America anthology "Crimes by Moonlight," 2010, Berkley
"Firepower," 2010, Amazon/Smashwords
"1500 Rules for Successful Living," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Calabama," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"The Big Wink," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Lost Vegas," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Party Doll," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"A Box of Pandoras," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Showdown," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Found Money," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Yvonne's Gone," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Cemetery Plot," a short story, 2013, Amazon
"Duke City Split," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Hit," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Desperado," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2015
"Shotgun Boogie," 2016, Amazon
"Homesick Blues," 2016, Amazon
"Side Eye," 2017, Amazon
"Cold Cuts," 2018, Amazon
"Upshot," 2020, Amazon
His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a 2009 independent Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna.
Under his pen name Max Austin, Brewer wrote three hard-boiled crime stories set in Albuquerque, NM. The first, DUKE CITY SPLIT, was published by Alibi/Random House in April 2014. DUKE CITY HIT followed in December 2014. DUKE CITY DESPERADO came out in June 2015.
Brewer's short fiction has appeared in the several anthologies, and he's published articles in magazines such as Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.
Brewer has taught at the University of New Mexico, the Midwest Writers Workshop and the Tony Hillerman Writers Seminar. He regularly speaks at mystery conventions, and was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe, NM, in 2011.
He served two years on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and twice served as an Edgar Awards judge. He's also a member of International Thriller Writers and SouthWest Writers.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Brewer worked as a daily journalist for 22 years, then wrote a syndicated weekly column for another decade. The column, called The Home Front, produced the raw material for his humor book TROPHY HUSBAND.
Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.
More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com.
BOOKS BY STEVE BREWER
"Lonely Street," 1994, Pocket Books
"Baby Face," 1995, Pocket Books
"Witchy Woman," 1996, St. Martin's Press
"Shaky Ground," 1997, St. Martin's Press
"Dirty Pool," 1999, St. Martin's Press
"End Run," 2000, Intrigue Press
"Crazy Love," 2001, Intrigue Press
"Cheap Shot," 2002, Intrigue Press
"Trophy Husband," 2003, University of New Mexico Press
"Bullets," 2003, Intrigue Press
"Fool's Paradise," 2003, UNM Press
"Boost," 2004, Speck Press
"Sanity Clause," a novella, in "The Last Noel," 2004, Worldwide
"Bank Job," 2005, Intrigue Press
"Whipsaw," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Monkey Man," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Payoff," a short story in the anthology "Damn Near Dead," 2006, Busted Flush
"Cutthroat," 2007, Bleak House
"Limbo," a short story in the Mystery Writers of America anthology "Crimes by Moonlight," 2010, Berkley
"Firepower," 2010, Amazon/Smashwords
"1500 Rules for Successful Living," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Calabama," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"The Big Wink," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Lost Vegas," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Party Doll," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"A Box of Pandoras," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Showdown," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Found Money," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Yvonne's Gone," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Cemetery Plot," a short story, 2013, Amazon
"Duke City Split," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Hit," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Desperado," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2015
"Shotgun Boogie," 2016, Amazon
"Homesick Blues," 2016, Amazon
"Side Eye," 2017, Amazon
"Cold Cuts," 2018, Amazon
"Upshot," 2020, Amazon
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 2, 2017
A really great book! I enjoyed how witty the author was. I absolutely loved the ending! Easy read but very satisfying! I'm looking forward to reading his other books.
August 25, 2013
RATING: 3.5
If you grew up in Needles, California (also known as "the Back Door to Hell") and your mother was the local character, hugely overweight and always cold, prowling the streets wearing wool sweaters and heavy socks and your father operated the Come to Jesus Dairy Barn, you too might run away from home at the age of 14. That's what John Ray Mooney did, landing in LA, home of celebrity, wealth and glamour. Only he's not a glamour guy and has to resort to criminal activities to get by. He doesn't do anything terribly dangerous, mostly shoplifting and boosting cars. He lives a decent life for a long time, until he hooks up with Angel Flesch, who contributes to his downfall rapidly with her demands for the affluent life. John Ray ends up in Folsom, in debt to Big Odie and being pursued by the big man and his Sons of Satan for an unpaid debt upon his release.
Desperate, he plans to rob the bank on the peninsula of Coronado, California, which is interrupted by the opportunity to mug a wealthy prince who has come into the bank for a cash advance. Only it turns out that he's not a prince at all, although everyone believes him to be Prince Seri Hassan Bandapanang bin Mohammed of the Asian island of Yip. The real Prince of Yip resides at the bottom of an outhouse, while the pretender, Billy Ho, is living his life.
Everyone wants a piece of the "prince". As time goes on, his assumed identity is unmasked. But he's now got a group of people around him who are planning a big heist on the bank where he and Mooney met. There's the security guard at the bank, a sexy woman who is desperate for money to save her fledgling business and a naïve firefighter from New Mexico who gets hooked up with the group. There are schemes and schemes within schemes, with another element of danger introduced by the security force from Yip who are trying to find the prince. The Yip Royal Guard is led by a man with an inner ear balance problem which leads to him tipping over frequently and consisting of Asians who have been overexposed to American TV.
What could have been a standard plot involving a group of wacky people all double crossing one another turns into something different in Brewer's capable hands. Whether in his standalones or the Bubba Mabry series, Brewer always goes beyond the predictable. He does not know the meaning of "pat resolution", and always concludes his books in a way that the reader doesn't expect, but that is totally believable. There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but the humor is never at the expense of any of the characters.
Brewer has released two standalone works in 2003, FOOL'S PARADISE and BULLETS. I hope this means that more people will be exposed to his wonderful wit and terrific writing. He deserves a lot more recognition with readers than he has received to date.
If you grew up in Needles, California (also known as "the Back Door to Hell") and your mother was the local character, hugely overweight and always cold, prowling the streets wearing wool sweaters and heavy socks and your father operated the Come to Jesus Dairy Barn, you too might run away from home at the age of 14. That's what John Ray Mooney did, landing in LA, home of celebrity, wealth and glamour. Only he's not a glamour guy and has to resort to criminal activities to get by. He doesn't do anything terribly dangerous, mostly shoplifting and boosting cars. He lives a decent life for a long time, until he hooks up with Angel Flesch, who contributes to his downfall rapidly with her demands for the affluent life. John Ray ends up in Folsom, in debt to Big Odie and being pursued by the big man and his Sons of Satan for an unpaid debt upon his release.
Desperate, he plans to rob the bank on the peninsula of Coronado, California, which is interrupted by the opportunity to mug a wealthy prince who has come into the bank for a cash advance. Only it turns out that he's not a prince at all, although everyone believes him to be Prince Seri Hassan Bandapanang bin Mohammed of the Asian island of Yip. The real Prince of Yip resides at the bottom of an outhouse, while the pretender, Billy Ho, is living his life.
Everyone wants a piece of the "prince". As time goes on, his assumed identity is unmasked. But he's now got a group of people around him who are planning a big heist on the bank where he and Mooney met. There's the security guard at the bank, a sexy woman who is desperate for money to save her fledgling business and a naïve firefighter from New Mexico who gets hooked up with the group. There are schemes and schemes within schemes, with another element of danger introduced by the security force from Yip who are trying to find the prince. The Yip Royal Guard is led by a man with an inner ear balance problem which leads to him tipping over frequently and consisting of Asians who have been overexposed to American TV.
What could have been a standard plot involving a group of wacky people all double crossing one another turns into something different in Brewer's capable hands. Whether in his standalones or the Bubba Mabry series, Brewer always goes beyond the predictable. He does not know the meaning of "pat resolution", and always concludes his books in a way that the reader doesn't expect, but that is totally believable. There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but the humor is never at the expense of any of the characters.
Brewer has released two standalone works in 2003, FOOL'S PARADISE and BULLETS. I hope this means that more people will be exposed to his wonderful wit and terrific writing. He deserves a lot more recognition with readers than he has received to date.
May 26, 2012
Steve Brewer has authored an entertaining semi-comic Southern California crime thriller with a cast of thousands, none of them very good with a gun, and every one of them with a plan B.
Published in hardcover by UNM Press.
Published in hardcover by UNM Press.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews