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Is Fat Bob Dead Yet?: A Novel
Stephen Dobyns--whom Stephen King has described as "the best of the best"--is back with his newest novel Is Fat Bob Dead Yet?, a comic suspense novel about a small-time con operation, a pair of combative detectives, and the pride, revenge, and deception that guide us all--Richard Russo meets Elmore Leonard.
In the seaport city of New London, Connecticut, and newcomer Connor Raposo has just witnessed a gruesome motorcycle accident on Bank Street. At least he thinks it was an accident. But then he sees a familiar man--who else would wear an Elvis pompadour in this day and age?--lurking around the crime scene. Where does Connor know him from? And why does everyone he knows keep showing up dead?
In the seaport city of New London, Connecticut, and newcomer Connor Raposo has just witnessed a gruesome motorcycle accident on Bank Street. At least he thinks it was an accident. But then he sees a familiar man--who else would wear an Elvis pompadour in this day and age?--lurking around the crime scene. Where does Connor know him from? And why does everyone he knows keep showing up dead?
369 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2015
80 people are currently reading
847 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Dobyns
82 books206 followersDobyns was raised in New Jersey, Michigan, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He was educated at Shimer College, graduated from Wayne State University, and received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1967. He has worked as a reporter for the Detroit News.
He has taught at various academic institutions, including Sarah Lawrence College, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers, the University of Iowa, Syracuse University, and Boston University.
In much of his poetry and some works of non-genre fiction, Dobyns employs extended tropes, using the ridiculous and the absurd as vehicles to introduce more profound meditations on life, love, and art. He shies neither from the low nor from the sublime, and all in a straightforward narrative voice of reason. His journalistic training has strongly informed this voice.
He has taught at various academic institutions, including Sarah Lawrence College, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers, the University of Iowa, Syracuse University, and Boston University.
In much of his poetry and some works of non-genre fiction, Dobyns employs extended tropes, using the ridiculous and the absurd as vehicles to introduce more profound meditations on life, love, and art. He shies neither from the low nor from the sublime, and all in a straightforward narrative voice of reason. His journalistic training has strongly informed this voice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
September 12, 2017
This is one of the strangest and funniest crime novels I've read in a long time. It's also very endearing with a cast of oddball characters that you simply can't help rooting for.
The story is set in New London, Connecticut, and opens with a tragic incident. A would-be con man named Connor Raposo picks up a pair of shoes and walks out of the cobbler's shop to see a garbage truck suddenly back out into the street, right in front of a Harley-Davidson "Fat Bob" belonging to guy named Fat Bob. The bike slams into the truck and body parts, presumably belonging to Fat Bob, go flying everywhere. It's not a pretty sight.
It's a terrible accident--or is it? Two bickering detectives named Manny Streeter and Benny Vickstrom are assigned to investigate and things rapidly become very confusing. Connor Raposo, the main witness is working for a gang of grifters called Bounty, Inc. They've appeared in town running a scam collecting donations for various charities like Prom Queens Anonymous, Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction, and Orphans from Outer Space. Since there's obviously more than one sucker born every minute, it's a pretty good racket, but the last thing Connor needs to to get entangled with the cops.
Connor also runs into trouble with mob enforcers, angry wives, a sexy woman for hire, and his own brother. It's not an easy life. It does make for a very entertaining novel, however, one that should certainly appeal to readers who enjoyed the more comic novels of Donald Westlake, for example. All in all, a very good read.
The story is set in New London, Connecticut, and opens with a tragic incident. A would-be con man named Connor Raposo picks up a pair of shoes and walks out of the cobbler's shop to see a garbage truck suddenly back out into the street, right in front of a Harley-Davidson "Fat Bob" belonging to guy named Fat Bob. The bike slams into the truck and body parts, presumably belonging to Fat Bob, go flying everywhere. It's not a pretty sight.
It's a terrible accident--or is it? Two bickering detectives named Manny Streeter and Benny Vickstrom are assigned to investigate and things rapidly become very confusing. Connor Raposo, the main witness is working for a gang of grifters called Bounty, Inc. They've appeared in town running a scam collecting donations for various charities like Prom Queens Anonymous, Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction, and Orphans from Outer Space. Since there's obviously more than one sucker born every minute, it's a pretty good racket, but the last thing Connor needs to to get entangled with the cops.
Connor also runs into trouble with mob enforcers, angry wives, a sexy woman for hire, and his own brother. It's not an easy life. It does make for a very entertaining novel, however, one that should certainly appeal to readers who enjoyed the more comic novels of Donald Westlake, for example. All in all, a very good read.
June 7, 2023
This comical romp has a cast of wacky characters who get involved in robbery, murder and mayhem.
Connor Raposo is a handsome, tanned, twentysomething man of Portuguese ancestry who feels an obligation to his 'clan', namely his mob-connected brother Vasco and his Uncle Didi. After stints as a schoolteacher and a Detroit casino worker, Connor is now working for Uncle Didi in Rhode Island.
Didi - who prides himself on inventing creative frauds - is running a charity scam out of a Winnebago, which is convenient for moving 'the business' every few weeks. Didi's latest con involves calling people to exhort donations for bogus charities like Orphans from Outer Space; Organ-Grinder-Monkey Retirement Ranch; Prom Queens Anonymous (for former pageant winners gone to seed); Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction (for beagles used in smoking experiments); and Holy Sisters of the Blessed Little Feet.
Didi's employees, Eartha and Vaughn - hired because they sound like famous singers - call people to cajole, wheedle, and gently bully them into giving money.....preferably cash.....to the non-existent causes. Connor, who's the worst liar in the world, can't make the phone calls so he's the 'bag man.' Connor collects contributions from donors' homes or from the post office box where they send their donations.
One day Connor is on a personal errand in nearby New London, Connecticut - where he's picking up his Bruno Magli shoes from a repair shop - when he sees a horrific accident. A 'Fat Bob' Harley Davidson motorcycle crashes into a truck, and the bike rider is shredded and decapitated. The victim is assumed to be the bike's owner - a man called 'Fat Bob' for his girth and his collection of Fat Bob motorcycles. However, the owner had lent his bike to an acquaintance.....who's now toast.
Fat Bob motorcycle
Connor, who can't extricate his car from the accident scene until the cops clear the street, starts an idle conversation with a fellow onlooker.....who introduces himself as Sal Nicoletti. Sal - who has lifts in his shoes; an Elvis-style pompadour; a Rolex watch; an array of gold chains; several large rings; and a pricey pen - seems like a shady guy. Nevertheless, Connor gives Sal a ride home, and is immediately mesmerized by the dandy's gorgeous sexy wife. This infatuation leads to a scene with cuticle scissors that will be imprinted on my mind for a long time. 😃
Meanwhile, two New London detectives - Benny Vikström and Manny Streeter - look into the fatal motorcycle-truck collision.....and discover it was deliberate murder. The cops proceed to investigate, but their progress is hampered by their ongoing low-key feud. This stems from the time Vikström made fun of Streeter's at-home karaoke set-up - complete with a stage, a bar, and little round tables. Vikström and Streeter's constant passive-aggressive antics are funny, but got a bit old.
As things turn out, the wrong biker was killed in the crash and flashy Sal Nicoletti - who's actually in the witness protection program - is implicated in the murder. All this sets up a complicated scenario involving Fat Bob - who goes on the run; Fat Bob's estranged wife, who's selling off his beloved bikes for spite; a mentally ill homeless man who thinks he has a giant lizard tail; a murderous thug named Chucky and his henchmen, one of whom is thinking of abandoning the profession....and wonders if there's a 'Murderers Anonymous'; two FBI agents who have little use for Vikström and Streeter; a red-haired man who's out for revenge; a 'nice girl' who takes a shine to Connor; Manny Streeter's beagle-loving wife, who gets a call from Didi's scam artists; and more.
Connor unwittingly puts himself in the center of the maelstrom and his life is seriously endangered, thanks in part to his rapscallion brother Vasco.....who's an informant for gangsters. The story is replete with conspiracies and unintended consequences, and provides plenty of laughs.
One of the most amusing characters in the story is Vaughn, Didi's youthful cohort who claims he IS an orphan from outer space. Vaughn speaks almost entirely in malapropisms, saying things like: "I'm having a nervous shakedown"; "I need medical resistance"; "I'm suffering from cardinal arrest"; "Damp weather's hard on my sciences"; "What do you think about gerbil warming?"; "What are you incinerating"; "Inflammable language scares me"; and so on.
The book is entertaining, but the jokes are repetitive and the plethora of 'villains' make it hard to remember who's who. Still, the story is funny and I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy zany mysteries.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
dreaded-dnf
November 25, 2015I listened to 21% of this novel and I just don't care. I don't care about any of the characters, I don't care for the (so called) humor, and I don't care about the story. I gave this twice my normal 10%, (I have a 10% rule), and it still hasn't captured my interest. DNF.
books-i-gave-up-on
August 29, 2015DNF @ 25%
I was looking forward to a fun quirky story. I've read 25% of the story and I just don't have any desire to pick this book up again. I haven't found anything to be even remotely funny and I don't care about any of the characters. This book just does not work for me at all.
ARC provided by Penguin First to Read.
I was looking forward to a fun quirky story. I've read 25% of the story and I just don't have any desire to pick this book up again. I haven't found anything to be even remotely funny and I don't care about any of the characters. This book just does not work for me at all.
ARC provided by Penguin First to Read.
January 15, 2020
If you like your murder mysteries served with a hefty dollop of wry, somewhat bizarre humour, then this could be the book for you.
The mystery is full of twists and turns but, for me, it’s all about the comedic elements. The humour really is almost surreal at times and a lot of the comedy comes from the distinctly unreliable narrator... although the character who is prone to hilarious malapropisms when he’s stressed was a delicious cherry on the top.
This would have been a five star read for me if it wasn’t for all the gratuitous nudity. I’m not against nudity and sex in a book if it serves the plot in some way, but this was just pure titillation... which I don’t really even see the point of in a non-visual medium. I get that the author was playing with the concept of the noir femme fatale but it just didn’t work for me.
Oh, and for those of you who want to know if Fat Bob survives the book,
The mystery is full of twists and turns but, for me, it’s all about the comedic elements. The humour really is almost surreal at times and a lot of the comedy comes from the distinctly unreliable narrator... although the character who is prone to hilarious malapropisms when he’s stressed was a delicious cherry on the top.
This would have been a five star read for me if it wasn’t for all the gratuitous nudity. I’m not against nudity and sex in a book if it serves the plot in some way, but this was just pure titillation... which I don’t really even see the point of in a non-visual medium. I get that the author was playing with the concept of the noir femme fatale but it just didn’t work for me.
Oh, and for those of you who want to know if Fat Bob survives the book,
Read
November 27, 2016I'm over half way in this book, and still not engaged. I get how there were comparisons to favorite authors of mine (Hiaasen, Dorsey, and Westlake, in humor, Russo in portrayals of town life) but the effort just hasn't panned out for me. I find neither the characters or the plot engaging. In the meantime, a book I've been eager to read has landed at my doorstep, and I'm putting this aside. Sorry Fat Bob. You may not be dead yet, but you're dead to me.
I received this book via the Read it Forward program. Thank you for sending me a copy. Sorry I wasn't keen on it.
I received this book via the Read it Forward program. Thank you for sending me a copy. Sorry I wasn't keen on it.
February 16, 2018
Conner is coming out of the shoe repair when he sees a motorcyclist run smack into the side of a truck that’s backing out of an alley. Kersplat. Worse yet—to his own thinking—his little blue Beamer is stuck behind another car that can’t get out until the cops leave and the street is normal again. This is only the beginning of a darkly funny novel that follows in the tradition of comic suspense writers like Donald Westlake and GM Ford. There’s plenty of gore at the outset, and so this isn’t your best choice for a meal time read, or for those with a low tolerance for such things, but for most it will be worth it. Our story features two detectives, Manny and Vikstrom, who heartily despise one another, along with a team of hucksters that invent and collect on behalf of scam charities for tobacco addicted beagles and former prom queens that can’t move on. The laugh-out-loud funny tidbits come from malapropisms turned by one member of the scam team, a fellow that has who-knows-what odd mental glitch and pops out with hilarious misstatements. The most beautiful thing about the humor here is that the author has no inclination at all to explain his jokes or belabor them. He drops them in and if you get them, you get them; if you aren’t paying attention, they’re launched past you like Fat Bob’s head. I am sorely tempted to give this story a five star rating, and as humor goes it deserves it. Reluctantly I recognize the lack of character development and refrain, but believe me, I will be watching for this writer in the future.
August 14, 2016
This is not a James Patterson or some other wildly popular novelist that churns out formulaic drivel the masses inhale with only a small part of the brain attending. This is a little work! But worth it, because it's not the usual fastfood Big Mac and fries.
Dobyns takes all the standard rules of writing fiction and spits on them. The use of present tense is fascinating! The tense and "breaking the 4th wall" combine to create a fun experience for the reader as if he's "hearing" a story told by a co-worker at the company water cooler. The author is like a friend, someone you know, telling a hilarious, shocking, philosophical, pithy tale. I enjoyed the experience.
On another level, this is a writing teacher teaching a class how to write by breaking all the rules, breaking the wall, and pointing out the little pieces to you. I think he's proving something, lol. If he uses foreshadowing or a leitmotif, he tells you blatantly, lol, "hey, this is foreshadowing," or "here we have another leitmotif."
I really dug it.
Dobyns takes all the standard rules of writing fiction and spits on them. The use of present tense is fascinating! The tense and "breaking the 4th wall" combine to create a fun experience for the reader as if he's "hearing" a story told by a co-worker at the company water cooler. The author is like a friend, someone you know, telling a hilarious, shocking, philosophical, pithy tale. I enjoyed the experience.
On another level, this is a writing teacher teaching a class how to write by breaking all the rules, breaking the wall, and pointing out the little pieces to you. I think he's proving something, lol. If he uses foreshadowing or a leitmotif, he tells you blatantly, lol, "hey, this is foreshadowing," or "here we have another leitmotif."
I really dug it.
July 2, 2015
This is a wild and crazy book which as one reviewer said makes no sense and makes perfect sense. It is a noirish, black humor filled tale of an investigation of the murder of a guy named Fat Bob who was allegedly decapitated while riding a motorcycle called Fat Bob, except Fat Bob wasn't the person who was decapitated while riding Fat Bob. Throw in a stripper named Celine ( real name Shirley) and a charity to rescue nicotine testing Beagles and you have a book well worth reading. By the way Dobyns is a hell of a writer. Arc courtesy of Netgalley.
Read
August 10, 2015I got this book free from FirsttoRead.com
"There's no point in dragging this out. He looked under them and over them, in front of them and behind them, to the right and to the left of them."
This quote pretty wells sums up the book for me, there seemed to be twice as many words as necessary in any given part of the story. By halfway through I was reading every 4th page and then I skipped the final quarter. If you enjoy narrators that break the 4th wall and go into mental tangents you'll love this book. Unfortunately, I don't.
"There's no point in dragging this out. He looked under them and over them, in front of them and behind them, to the right and to the left of them."
This quote pretty wells sums up the book for me, there seemed to be twice as many words as necessary in any given part of the story. By halfway through I was reading every 4th page and then I skipped the final quarter. If you enjoy narrators that break the 4th wall and go into mental tangents you'll love this book. Unfortunately, I don't.
Read
September 2, 2015A new Stephen Dobyns book is cause to celebrate. In his new mystery, Connor Raposo witnesses what he thinks is a terrible accident, but one of the men he sees hanging around the crime scene looks really familiar, and suddenly the accident doesn't seem so accidental. This book is great fun! Also, if you want to read a creepy book, check out his novel The Church of Dead Girls.
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July 20, 2024
This was pretty interesting - mostly very bizarre, and pretty funny, but a bit hard for me to follow some of it and a lot of crazy characters. Some of the humor is funnier after reading the book and thinking about how ridiculously crazy some of it is, but somehow in context it wasn't quite as funny.
Probably the most likable character was a guy who works with a group of swindlers who collect money for made-up charities using personal information gleamed by one crazy member with computer skills, called Vaughn Monroe, who claims to be an orphan from outer space and speaks mostly in what I believe are called malapropisms. But his voice must sound like the old singer with that name, and it works on the phone for getting donations.
Then there are the two cops who are constantly in some sort of battle to drive each other crazy, although it's more one guy is trying to make the other crazy, but has either succeeded or doesn't need to try very hard. The other guy sees everything as some sort of malicious intent, and is probably correct most of the time. One of them is a big-time karaoke fan who has a full setup in his home, and the other inadvertently laughs at him when he hears about it. That may be the catalyst for their ptetty infighting all the time.
Fat Bob is a type of Harley Davidson motorcycle and a guy that owns a bunch of them. In many ways, he's not really the main character, but he plays a big part, as do his Fat Bob cycles.
I don't want to give anything away, so I'm leaving out a lot of details that would be spoilers. So, if you like zany mysteries, give it a try.
Probably the most likable character was a guy who works with a group of swindlers who collect money for made-up charities using personal information gleamed by one crazy member with computer skills, called Vaughn Monroe, who claims to be an orphan from outer space and speaks mostly in what I believe are called malapropisms. But his voice must sound like the old singer with that name, and it works on the phone for getting donations.
Then there are the two cops who are constantly in some sort of battle to drive each other crazy, although it's more one guy is trying to make the other crazy, but has either succeeded or doesn't need to try very hard. The other guy sees everything as some sort of malicious intent, and is probably correct most of the time. One of them is a big-time karaoke fan who has a full setup in his home, and the other inadvertently laughs at him when he hears about it. That may be the catalyst for their ptetty infighting all the time.
Fat Bob is a type of Harley Davidson motorcycle and a guy that owns a bunch of them. In many ways, he's not really the main character, but he plays a big part, as do his Fat Bob cycles.
I don't want to give anything away, so I'm leaving out a lot of details that would be spoilers. So, if you like zany mysteries, give it a try.
Read
September 30, 20153.5
I love offbeat stuff like this.
Before anyone gets all freaked about the dog on the cover smoking a cigarette, no animals were harmed (or caught smoking) in this novel. The smoking dog represents just one scam run by a couple of very odd people who solicit money over the phone, telling selected callers that their help is needed to Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction (FBNA) -- referring to dogs who are used in research. Another selected group of unwary customers gets calls to support Prom Queens Anonymous (directed at fading beauties who never quite grew out of their prom queen days) while yet another specifically-targeted group receives pleas to support Orphans from Outer Space. So don't worry about the dog or go and boycott the book because the dog may incite teens to take up smoking -- nothing like that goes on here. But I just know someone will complain or take offense -- you heard it here, folks.
I laughed myself silly throughout the first half of this book and a little beyond. When I'd finished the book very very late last night, I took a look at what readers on goodreads had to say and discovered that I must have a strange, quirky sense of humor because not a whole lot of people found this book at all funny. Then again, I'm known for enjoying the unconventional and the strange. My point is that it's a novel that may not appeal to everyone, but if you like absurdity, snark and sarcasm, you'll find plenty of it here.
It's not so much the story but the characters that really drive this novel -- and there are any number of lunatics who populate this book. The two main cops have a serious "passive-aggressive" thing going on in their work partnership. Manny Streeter is crazy about karaoke and has spent a lot of money turning one of the bedrooms into a karaoke lounge complete with tables and rules; his partner, Benny Vikström really wants out of the partnership but finds that the only way out is to become a bike cop. He also catches a lot of flak on the job when people joke about him being a "famous Swedish detective." The scam artists at Bounty Inc.(the perpetuators of FBNA) are just insane but they have given the main character Connor a job working for them and say they are prepping him to take over the business. Even the bad guys (but moreso their wives) are sort of silly, with one exception, a crazy lunatic named Chucky. There's also a homeless guy who thinks he has a tail every time he gets through a bottle of Everclear. Then there's Connor himself, the guy who through no fault of his own ends up in more than one situation he's having trouble keeping under control. There really isn't one sane person in this book and when you combine them all what you get is a rather crazy mix of characters who keep things beyond lively. Oh yes - and then there's the murder mystery.
Now the downside to this book is that even though it's terribly clever, at the end it was like I was watching a movie. It's like the novel was really fun up to that point, but the ending had all of the trademarks of those films that feature the hapless hero and all of the crazies in his/her orbit. I could actually see things playing out in my head exactly to form. If you've read this book you'll know precisely what I'm saying; if not, well you will. I would like to think that the author did this on purpose, but who knows. So the bottom line is this: as the dustjacket blurb notes, it is an "entertainingly absurd" novel, and it made me laugh out loud for most of the book. I don't know that I'd say it's a novel for everyone, because clearly some readers couldn't get into the humor of it all. I say if you come into it with no expectations, making your mind a blank slate and not worrying about the whole mystery/crime/plot thing, it will probably make for fun reading. I have this tendency to favor the unconventional, so it was a good book for me.
I love offbeat stuff like this.
Before anyone gets all freaked about the dog on the cover smoking a cigarette, no animals were harmed (or caught smoking) in this novel. The smoking dog represents just one scam run by a couple of very odd people who solicit money over the phone, telling selected callers that their help is needed to Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction (FBNA) -- referring to dogs who are used in research. Another selected group of unwary customers gets calls to support Prom Queens Anonymous (directed at fading beauties who never quite grew out of their prom queen days) while yet another specifically-targeted group receives pleas to support Orphans from Outer Space. So don't worry about the dog or go and boycott the book because the dog may incite teens to take up smoking -- nothing like that goes on here. But I just know someone will complain or take offense -- you heard it here, folks.
I laughed myself silly throughout the first half of this book and a little beyond. When I'd finished the book very very late last night, I took a look at what readers on goodreads had to say and discovered that I must have a strange, quirky sense of humor because not a whole lot of people found this book at all funny. Then again, I'm known for enjoying the unconventional and the strange. My point is that it's a novel that may not appeal to everyone, but if you like absurdity, snark and sarcasm, you'll find plenty of it here.
It's not so much the story but the characters that really drive this novel -- and there are any number of lunatics who populate this book. The two main cops have a serious "passive-aggressive" thing going on in their work partnership. Manny Streeter is crazy about karaoke and has spent a lot of money turning one of the bedrooms into a karaoke lounge complete with tables and rules; his partner, Benny Vikström really wants out of the partnership but finds that the only way out is to become a bike cop. He also catches a lot of flak on the job when people joke about him being a "famous Swedish detective." The scam artists at Bounty Inc.(the perpetuators of FBNA) are just insane but they have given the main character Connor a job working for them and say they are prepping him to take over the business. Even the bad guys (but moreso their wives) are sort of silly, with one exception, a crazy lunatic named Chucky. There's also a homeless guy who thinks he has a tail every time he gets through a bottle of Everclear. Then there's Connor himself, the guy who through no fault of his own ends up in more than one situation he's having trouble keeping under control. There really isn't one sane person in this book and when you combine them all what you get is a rather crazy mix of characters who keep things beyond lively. Oh yes - and then there's the murder mystery.
Now the downside to this book is that even though it's terribly clever, at the end it was like I was watching a movie. It's like the novel was really fun up to that point, but the ending had all of the trademarks of those films that feature the hapless hero and all of the crazies in his/her orbit. I could actually see things playing out in my head exactly to form. If you've read this book you'll know precisely what I'm saying; if not, well you will. I would like to think that the author did this on purpose, but who knows. So the bottom line is this: as the dustjacket blurb notes, it is an "entertainingly absurd" novel, and it made me laugh out loud for most of the book. I don't know that I'd say it's a novel for everyone, because clearly some readers couldn't get into the humor of it all. I say if you come into it with no expectations, making your mind a blank slate and not worrying about the whole mystery/crime/plot thing, it will probably make for fun reading. I have this tendency to favor the unconventional, so it was a good book for me.
December 7, 2015
I’m naturally suspicious of any new novel when reviewers liken the author to the late great Elmore Leonard. This is the first time I’ve read Stephen Dobyns, and--based on his track record and many awards--I guess his fiction has merit. My problem with the reviewers’ comparison is that the peerless Mr Leonard was never mean, hateful or immune to the humanity of even the dumbest denizen of his crime novels. His empathy for his rogue’s gallery of losers, misguided would-be masterminds, venal gamesmen, one-trick grifters and clueless cops is what kept enthralled readers coming back year after year. Leonard would have shown us how Fat Bob was more than his fatness and his motorcycle. But IS FAT BOB DEAD YET? is just happy to see Bob suffer a little, while a mismatched pair of cops drive each other nuts and New London, CT, is infested with a mobile home full of quirky rip-off artists. Note to future authors: this reader really hates the “hovering eye,” “cherry-picker” or “drone in the sky” third-person omniscient narrator, especially when that voice is snarky and fatuous.
April 3, 2019
Abandoned a little after the halfway mark. It started out funny, but soon had too much of the "obtrusive narrator" poking into the story. Too many long descriptions of people and events, rather than showing me what they were like through use of dialogue. This book had potential for being good, but it missed the mark. Too bad.
March 24, 2017
Gøy bok, forrvirrende til tider, men det var jo en del av moroa. Liker spesielt alle de ulike personlighetene, og måten disse blir beskrevet på.
September 24, 2016
If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that I can't resist books with titles like "Is Fat Bob Dead Yet?". If there's one thing I should have learned in life, it's that I'm bound to be disappointed by books with titles like "Is Fat Bob Dead Yet?". This novel should be the paradigm example because the Fat Bob of the title refers both to an overweight fellow named Robert, and to Harley Davidsons. I have no interest in motorcycles. Stephen Dobyns writes as if I, and every sentient being on Earth, finds them fascinating. He also thinks we'll be charmed by the gallery of lovable rogues he's created for this novel, especially when contrasted against the gallery of unlovable rogues he's assembled to serve as minor characters. I don't love lovable rogues. I don't even like them that much. I have nothing against rogues in general, it's just that lovable rogues tend to be two random quirks combined to simulate complexity of character, like "Vaughn," whose voice is reminiscent of the guy who sang "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and is prone to mildly amusing malapropisms. Finally, I resent Dobyns' use of "we," which I guess is an homage to the omniscient narrators of Tolstoy or Lessing, but just comes off as smug and knowing, like he's referring to an in-joke that he knows better than you. If "Is Fat Bob Dead Yet?" is typical Dobyns, the guy is clever -- but not much else.
August 12, 2015
I got a finished copy from the publisher for an honest review.
I think I have found the second coming of Tim Dorsey. Can you imagine those two coming together and making something extravagantly outrageous?
When I started to read this, it was not at all what I was expecting. When the laughs came, they were fantastic and awkward (in a good way). Between the two passive aggressive detectives and the epic cons for a better future makes for a book that makes sense and no sense at the same time. Everyone wasn't who they said they were, with twists and turns that take you on a unbelievable journey.
Somehow with all the character mix ups, it makes for a good read. You see a fat bob riding a fat bob, karaoke fights (finish him), poor little beagles with their smoking addictions, plus saving kids from Outer Space and those sneaky detectives who hate each other and wait for it.... do I hint a taste of jealousy??!!
What really draws you in is the cover (duh) and the title. Was hoping for something more with the ending, everything seemed to fit into place. But what I was really expecting was an all out brawl between the two detectives. Maybe next time.
I think I have found the second coming of Tim Dorsey. Can you imagine those two coming together and making something extravagantly outrageous?
When I started to read this, it was not at all what I was expecting. When the laughs came, they were fantastic and awkward (in a good way). Between the two passive aggressive detectives and the epic cons for a better future makes for a book that makes sense and no sense at the same time. Everyone wasn't who they said they were, with twists and turns that take you on a unbelievable journey.
Somehow with all the character mix ups, it makes for a good read. You see a fat bob riding a fat bob, karaoke fights (finish him), poor little beagles with their smoking addictions, plus saving kids from Outer Space and those sneaky detectives who hate each other and wait for it.... do I hint a taste of jealousy??!!
What really draws you in is the cover (duh) and the title. Was hoping for something more with the ending, everything seemed to fit into place. But what I was really expecting was an all out brawl between the two detectives. Maybe next time.
February 23, 2017
Quirky and engaging. The narrator of the story makes it all fit together as we follow Fat Bob on his Fat Bob. Cons, mob enforcers and various ne'er do well characters add to the the humor. You don't often say that except with this author.
October 27, 2015
Book Review & Giveaway: I know from reading The Burn Palace by award-winning author Stephen Dobyns that he not only writes excellent thrillers but they’re decidedly quirky…i.e., he’s got a great snarky sense of humor. And you know I like my fellow snarky people. So when the publisher approached me about reading and possibly reviewing his latest novel, Is Fat Bob Dead Yet?, I knew from the quirky cover that it was probably going to be a real treat – and I was right. Now I don’t want to downplay the gruesomeness in this novel because it definitely has a yuck factor that makes it perfect to Halloween reading. At the same time, it’s got a bit of the theater of the absurd going on, which kept me entertained even during the gory parts. Like a good mystery/thriller with quirky humor thrown in? Then you’ll definitely want to enter our giveaway because two people are going to win copies of Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? at http://popcornreads.com/?p=8595.
May 26, 2016
Stephen Dobyns has such an impressive body of work, and he has a playful, literary voice and a mastery of language that elevates the thriller genre. He's one of my inspirations, and I really think more people should read him. This book is so much fun. Honestly, read it just to learn why there's a beagle smoking a cigarette on the cover. This is a gorgeously written, complex thriller with completely original characters. If you don't believe me, read the Stephen King blurb on the back. Also, for writers out there looking for inspiration, Dobyns plays with perspective in a way I've never seen, with an omniscient narration that takes us inside and out of characters, and allowing for authorial intrusion but without distracting the reader. He's such a master of the craft, he can break all the rules of how to tell a story and still keep us on the hook.
January 1, 2016
This is getting five stars despite my quibbles with the narration moving between omniscient ("if we look to the left, we'd see...") and third person ("Connor walked to the door"). Moving past that, Dobyns has once again written a great mystery - gruesome at times (a biker getting cut in half by a truck!), but also very character oriented. Who is Fat Bob? Why does anyone want him dead? Is it something to do with Connor's brother? Or maybe it's all a mistake? Even better is the relationship between Vikstrom and Streeter, which ranges from passive-aggressive to just plain aggressive. Best? Fundraising for the nicotine addicted beagles and orphans from outer space.
August 27, 2015
Hilariously well-written with a great ensemble of characters intricately woven together in a very entertaining plot.
I received the book through the First to Read ARC programme, and would never have picked up this book in a book store (or at Amazon) due to the ridiculous cover picture of the smoking Beagle (yes, I am that shallow!). Do yourself a favor and ignore the cover art and dive into this if you need a good laugh!
I received the book through the First to Read ARC programme, and would never have picked up this book in a book store (or at Amazon) due to the ridiculous cover picture of the smoking Beagle (yes, I am that shallow!). Do yourself a favor and ignore the cover art and dive into this if you need a good laugh!
October 15, 2017
Stephen Dobyns’s Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? (2015) is a police procedural with a different voice. It begins in the first person plural so that the reader feels as if he is sitting at the table with the author watching events unfold; it’s very effective way to draw you into this refreshingly funny, unusually well written, and energetic crime thriller that etches its characters rather than just drawing them. And it has Harleys to boot—enjoy the ride!
We begin on Bank Street in New London, Connecticut, where Connor Raposo is at the cobbler shop picking up his newly resoled shoes; Connor is a former Detroit casino employee who now works for a business called Bounty Inc. Bounty consists of several family members and associates who elicit donations for such charities as Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction, Holy Sisters of the Blessed Little Feet., and Toilets for the Indigent Left-Handed. Among the associates are Eartha Kitt and Vaughan Monroe—not the real, and really dead ones, but voice-alikes who, given the elderly target audience, are high earners.
Across Bank Street from the cobbler shop sits Fidget, the local street bum, who is wishing that he had some alcohol so that his tail wouldn’t swish around and attract attention. In a nearby alley a driver named Pappalardo is climbing into the green cab of his dump truck. And coming down Bank Street toward the alley is a Harley Fat Bob; it’s owner, Robert Rossi, is nicknamed Fat Bob because has several. A scream is heard and Connor looks out of the cobbler shop window to see mayhem and disaster: the dump truck has backed into Bank Street and the biker has slammed into the truck’s side at speed.
Nobody is hurt except the two Fat Bobs. Both the mechanical Fat Bob and the human Fat Bob are totaled; the latter has lost both a leg and a head and little grisly pieces of him have rained down on bystanders, as has his bucket of blood. Even worse for Connor: emergency vehicles block Bank Street so his parked Mini Cooper is stuck at the curb for hour. Still, every cloud has a silver lining—Connor has found and kept the biker’s hat with Marco Santuzza embroidered on it! It will turn out that Marco was using Robert Rossi’s (Fat Bob’s) bike for the day. But why would Rossi let Santuzza use his extremely valuable Harley?
Manny Streeter and Benny Vikström, the detectives dispatched to the scene on Bank Street, are Bickersons who detest each other, but each wants to stay in the Detective Bureau so neither is willing to transfer out: each sees only one way out—to irritate the other until death or retirement solves the problem. Manny—whose persona is that of an eternally disappointed hound—irritates Benny no end; he knows it, he uses it, and he loves every moment. His favorite phrase, “This is not good,” irritates Benny no end. Of course, Benny does the same to Manny, with phrases like “I get the sense that something’s just not right.” The depth of their depraved relationship is clear when we learn that,
Benny gets “the sense that something’s just not right.” Perhaps Poppalardo was more complicit than simply accidentally stepping on the gas as he backed up? He also thinks that Fidget saw more than he’s saying. Manny investigates further and finds that, damn it, Vikström is right! Witnesses saw someone with a pompadour signaling the truck driver when to back out into the street. Within a few hours Poppalardo is found murdered, and not long after Sal is found dead in his office with a hole in his forehead, out of which hangs a plastic flower. To add to the confusion, Manny and Benny can’t interview Robert Rossi—he has disappeared following someone taking pot shots at one of his Fat Bob bikes sitting in his driveway At least now the detectives know that “something’s just not right.”
In short, nobody is clean in this very clever novel that mixes tense and often riotous exchanges between Manny and Benny with sly observations about life into a unique plot involving initially disparate characters who, it turns out, have lots in common. It’s perhaps the most fun thriller I’ve read in ages. Note that while the author clearly had great fun writing the book, there were no detectives harmed in the making of this novel!
Five Stars.
We begin on Bank Street in New London, Connecticut, where Connor Raposo is at the cobbler shop picking up his newly resoled shoes; Connor is a former Detroit casino employee who now works for a business called Bounty Inc. Bounty consists of several family members and associates who elicit donations for such charities as Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction, Holy Sisters of the Blessed Little Feet., and Toilets for the Indigent Left-Handed. Among the associates are Eartha Kitt and Vaughan Monroe—not the real, and really dead ones, but voice-alikes who, given the elderly target audience, are high earners.
Across Bank Street from the cobbler shop sits Fidget, the local street bum, who is wishing that he had some alcohol so that his tail wouldn’t swish around and attract attention. In a nearby alley a driver named Pappalardo is climbing into the green cab of his dump truck. And coming down Bank Street toward the alley is a Harley Fat Bob; it’s owner, Robert Rossi, is nicknamed Fat Bob because has several. A scream is heard and Connor looks out of the cobbler shop window to see mayhem and disaster: the dump truck has backed into Bank Street and the biker has slammed into the truck’s side at speed.
Nobody is hurt except the two Fat Bobs. Both the mechanical Fat Bob and the human Fat Bob are totaled; the latter has lost both a leg and a head and little grisly pieces of him have rained down on bystanders, as has his bucket of blood. Even worse for Connor: emergency vehicles block Bank Street so his parked Mini Cooper is stuck at the curb for hour. Still, every cloud has a silver lining—Connor has found and kept the biker’s hat with Marco Santuzza embroidered on it! It will turn out that Marco was using Robert Rossi’s (Fat Bob’s) bike for the day. But why would Rossi let Santuzza use his extremely valuable Harley?
Manny Streeter and Benny Vikström, the detectives dispatched to the scene on Bank Street, are Bickersons who detest each other, but each wants to stay in the Detective Bureau so neither is willing to transfer out: each sees only one way out—to irritate the other until death or retirement solves the problem. Manny—whose persona is that of an eternally disappointed hound—irritates Benny no end; he knows it, he uses it, and he loves every moment. His favorite phrase, “This is not good,” irritates Benny no end. Of course, Benny does the same to Manny, with phrases like “I get the sense that something’s just not right.” The depth of their depraved relationship is clear when we learn that,
Manny is perhaps the only cop who knows Vikström is terrified of heights, but he keeps it to himself so not even Vikström knows he knows. This gives Manny a wide range of subtle chastisements to increase the frustrations in Vikström’s life, which in turn decreases Manny’s level of general disappointment.Manny and Benny interview Connor the Scammer, Fidget the Bum, Pappalardo the Truck Driver, and other witnesses, including a fellow with a pompadour whom Connor thinks he recognizes from his casino days in Detroit. The fellow says he’s Sal Nicolleti and has never been in a Detroit. Connor doesn’t buy it but he keeps this information to himself and wonders, why is this guy in New London, where Connor has set up shop? It turns out that Sal was an internal auditor at the Detroit casino and turned State’s evidence against his employer; he is now in the witness protection program and has a wife and two children, all rented, provide family cover.
Benny gets “the sense that something’s just not right.” Perhaps Poppalardo was more complicit than simply accidentally stepping on the gas as he backed up? He also thinks that Fidget saw more than he’s saying. Manny investigates further and finds that, damn it, Vikström is right! Witnesses saw someone with a pompadour signaling the truck driver when to back out into the street. Within a few hours Poppalardo is found murdered, and not long after Sal is found dead in his office with a hole in his forehead, out of which hangs a plastic flower. To add to the confusion, Manny and Benny can’t interview Robert Rossi—he has disappeared following someone taking pot shots at one of his Fat Bob bikes sitting in his driveway At least now the detectives know that “something’s just not right.”
In short, nobody is clean in this very clever novel that mixes tense and often riotous exchanges between Manny and Benny with sly observations about life into a unique plot involving initially disparate characters who, it turns out, have lots in common. It’s perhaps the most fun thriller I’ve read in ages. Note that while the author clearly had great fun writing the book, there were no detectives harmed in the making of this novel!
Five Stars.
June 18, 2017
Connor wird Zeuge eines Unfalls, bei dem ein LKW und ein Motorrad aufeinander treffen. Der Motorradfahrer zieht den Kürzeren. Im Verlauf des Buches versuchen die Polizisten Manny und Vikström die Frage zu klären, wie es zu dem Unfall kam, beziehungsweise, ob es überhaupt ein Unfall war. Derweil stolpert Connor von einer aberwitzigen Situation in die nächste und merkt bald, dass er verfolgt wird.
Im Buch begegnen uns einige Charaktere, die vielseitig, unterschiedlich, skurril und interessant sind. Conner, der mit seinen Partnern ein dubioses Spendenunternehmen aufbaut. Die beiden Ermittler Manny und Vikström, die eine Hass-Liebe verbindet und die mit Situationskomik und humorvollen Dialogen aufwarten. Bei denen sich zeigt, dass sie gar nicht so unterschiedlich sind, wie sie denken und sich doch ständig gegenseitig aufziehen. Es treten noch andere Personen auf den Plan: der ein oder andere Kleinkriminelle oder auch ein etwas größerer Fisch aus der Ganovenszene.
Herausragend ist der allwissende Erzähler. Er erlaubt einen Rundumblick über Ereignisse und in die Gedankenwelt der Protagonisten. Er weiß nicht alles, stellt daher auch Vermutungen an und spekuliert. Er spricht den Leser direkt an. Dadurch, dass er immer wieder Parallelen und Zusammenhänge erklärt, Personen zusammen führt, wird ein sehr spannender und lesenswerter Plot kreiert.
Einziges Manko für mich war, dass ich sehr lange für das Lesen gebraucht habe, weil das Buch doch irgendwie langatmig daher kam. Es gab einige Erzählungen und Details, die eher unwichtig waren und die Story nicht voran getrieben haben, so dass ich oft das Gefühl hatte ewig zu lesen, um dann fest zustellen, dass es grade mal zehn Seiten gewesen sind. Woran genau es lag, kann ich gar nicht fest machen. Es lag NICHT daran, dass das Buch langweilig war oder dass nichts passiert ist, denn so war es ganz und gar nicht. Es ist tatsächliche sehr viel passiert, es gab viele tolle Charaktere, hatte einen grandiosen Schreibstil. Dennoch hat es mich leider nicht vollends fesseln und flashen können. Schade!
Im Buch begegnen uns einige Charaktere, die vielseitig, unterschiedlich, skurril und interessant sind. Conner, der mit seinen Partnern ein dubioses Spendenunternehmen aufbaut. Die beiden Ermittler Manny und Vikström, die eine Hass-Liebe verbindet und die mit Situationskomik und humorvollen Dialogen aufwarten. Bei denen sich zeigt, dass sie gar nicht so unterschiedlich sind, wie sie denken und sich doch ständig gegenseitig aufziehen. Es treten noch andere Personen auf den Plan: der ein oder andere Kleinkriminelle oder auch ein etwas größerer Fisch aus der Ganovenszene.
Herausragend ist der allwissende Erzähler. Er erlaubt einen Rundumblick über Ereignisse und in die Gedankenwelt der Protagonisten. Er weiß nicht alles, stellt daher auch Vermutungen an und spekuliert. Er spricht den Leser direkt an. Dadurch, dass er immer wieder Parallelen und Zusammenhänge erklärt, Personen zusammen führt, wird ein sehr spannender und lesenswerter Plot kreiert.
Einziges Manko für mich war, dass ich sehr lange für das Lesen gebraucht habe, weil das Buch doch irgendwie langatmig daher kam. Es gab einige Erzählungen und Details, die eher unwichtig waren und die Story nicht voran getrieben haben, so dass ich oft das Gefühl hatte ewig zu lesen, um dann fest zustellen, dass es grade mal zehn Seiten gewesen sind. Woran genau es lag, kann ich gar nicht fest machen. Es lag NICHT daran, dass das Buch langweilig war oder dass nichts passiert ist, denn so war es ganz und gar nicht. Es ist tatsächliche sehr viel passiert, es gab viele tolle Charaktere, hatte einen grandiosen Schreibstil. Dennoch hat es mich leider nicht vollends fesseln und flashen können. Schade!
January 19, 2020
finished yesterday the 18t of january 2020 good read three stars i liked it kindle library loaner first from dobyns and what else can i say? has a bit of...1st person plural? just read another had some of this same flavor, by the guy who wrote that 'a man called ove' or something like that can't remember the title, hockey, two teams two towns conflict. vaughan is a hoot...comes up with these crazy word combinations...escape goat...something about don't let a gift horse so something...sleep in the house? other...seemingly...off words that give you pause make you think. as do the characters around. one female character often has her boobies on display so all is well and all manner of things are well...and now on to the weather...
...wally? pete we'd had a pile of snow, put in about 11.5 miles blowin snow yesterday three visits to the driveway and ten other driveways...enough! now over to sarah with enterainment...
sarah?...yeah wally, we're on the lift bridge with a bunch of lesbians, womens' march...women's march? maybe that one...teeth a chattering. they want something.
i do have that song in my head now...an old cowpoke went riding out...
...wally? pete we'd had a pile of snow, put in about 11.5 miles blowin snow yesterday three visits to the driveway and ten other driveways...enough! now over to sarah with enterainment...
sarah?...yeah wally, we're on the lift bridge with a bunch of lesbians, womens' march...women's march? maybe that one...teeth a chattering. they want something.
i do have that song in my head now...an old cowpoke went riding out...
October 17, 2025
Surprisingly intriguing. Fast-paced with lots of crazy characters.
September 28, 2017
Not entirely unenjoyable. It does get better as it goes along. It reminded me a bit of Dave Barry's novels - lots of plot, many attempts at humor, etc. A kind of "beach read," really.
Read
November 15, 2015I didn't finish this book. The writing style is entertaining enough, but the novel starts out as an information dump. There's just way too much unnecessary description of the setting. I remember thinking the book had the perfect amount of detail to adapt to a screenplay, but as a book? It's way too much at once.
January 8, 2016
Not a fair rating because I didn't want to finish it. Decided if it didn't improve by the half-way mark-I was through. It didn't improve. It was funny but just too slow and repetitive.
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