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Blown Away: a Dynamite Comedy
I wasn’t kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth. ~Chico Marx A not-so innocent kiss lights the fuse in this Domestic Comedy. BLOWN AWAY pits an aging trophy wife against her clueless husband and her sexually awakening daughter. When a suspicious wife learns her husband was seen kissing his stepdaughter she leaps to conclusions, and widowhood becomes an option. The old wisecrack about a husband trading in a forty for a pair of twenties is no joke when you're the forty. Readers and Critic Carl Hiassen, Dave Barry, Deforest Day —What Carl Hiassen does for south Florida, Deforest Day does for Pennsylvania. Quirky, unforgettable characters, each one with their own warped agenda collide and conspire in this raucous tale. —The explosive humor of Catch-22... done with Huck Finn's moral bombsight. —I just love the way Day's mind works--so many twists and turns! His deeply-developed characters and his wonderful facility with words (especially snark and tongue-in-cheek) add extra layers of entertainment. —Simply put, this is a charming novel filled with eccentric characters who involve themselves in escapades as funny as they are twisted —I use the word 'hilarious' sparingly when describing books, but this one deserves it. I only put it down to wipe my tears of mirth. Even the characters with the weakest grasp on ethical behavior are appealing. The fact that the crazy scenarios these people get themselves into are possible in the real world just makes it funnier. Read this hilarious Dark Comedy today! Today Magnolia turns eighteen, and Honey insists Mac buy his stepdaughter a BMW roadster. Mags wanted a diesel pickup truck. Honey wears spike heels and designer dresses. Her daughter is captain of the field hockey team and likes to drive Daddy Mac's bulldozer. Honey is clueless about her daughter's sexual orientation, and Mac brushes off the thank-you kiss as harmless teenage exuberance. Honey is sure they are plotting to dump her, and Mags thinks seducing Daddy Mac is a great way to get back at her mother for abuses real and imagined. But Honey sees the kiss as just the first step to unspeakable horrors, including incest and public ridicule. She turns to Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry novels for quirky ways to end a marriage, but finds them all too complicated. Dynamite is simple; blowing up your husband is the quickest way to end a marriage. Even better if someone else lights the fuse. With the help of Spider Tarantella, their PTSD-afflicted Master Blaster, she plans for Mac to be inside the building when she and the governor push the button. Dr Quetzalcóatl, a naked professor of comparative religion, who becomes Mags' spirit guide, Bugle Boy, a drug-sniffing bloodhound with a penchant for interior monologues on the human condition, and a bumbling pair of kidnappers all complicate the plot. Blown Away is an entertaining noir novel, a riveting thriller filled with suspense and plots twists that will keep the reader guessing. Sparkling dialogue and memorable characters leap off the page of this dark comedy in the vein of novels by Chuck Palahniuk, Kurt Vonnegut, and Donald Westlake. A hilarious summer beach read for those who enjoy mysteries, suspense, action and adventure, domestic triangles, unique characters, witty dialogue and a little romance thrown in for laughs.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2017
32 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 28, 2017
Dark, domestic comedy, with a cast of truly memorable characters
In BLOWN AWAY, virtually everyone is on the make: corrupt senators, deceitful employees, jealous wives, standover men, ambitious cops. Even the police dog has his own agenda. When all these characters clash together in the events surrounding the planned demolition of an enormous, derelict ironworks, the result is a gripping read with plenty of humorous moments. Some are laugh-out-loud, but most are of the dryer, more satisfying ‘I shouldn’t’ kind.
Central to the action is the dysfunctional McClintock family, comprising well-meaning construction company boss, Mac, his beautiful but insecure wife, Honey, and Honey’s spirited teenage daughter, Mags. The action begins when Honey suspects shenanigans between Mac and Mags, and reacts with typical impulsiveness, triggering a disastrous sequence of comic events that tear at the family bonds, jeopardising the family business, and drawing in the entire cast of characters, one by one, towards the dramatic signature event.
BLOWN AWAY asks the question, ‘Can good people survive in a corrupt world?’ As the two ‘good’ characters in the story, Mac and Mags face formidable opposition from the other side. Mac has a good heart and his instincts are to try and work with people, no matter how flawed. Mags is eager to make her mark in the family business, but is inexperienced and unused to the wide world and its dangers. The reader sympathises with them as they face off against the whole procession of bizarros who converge to spoil their plans.
These characters were my favourite part of the book. Each one is vividly drawn, with his or her own agenda, and a distinguishing flaw or tick. Spider Tarantella, the demolitions expert, has a habit of carrying on R-rated conversations with a voice in his head—usually out loud. Honey is so self-obsessed, she cannot see how good her life is with Mac and Mags. Bugle Boy, the police sniffer dog, plays a supporting role, but a memorable one with his own dreams of fame, and his own paradigm of the world as being made entirely of smells.
Finally, there is the narrator, who has a light touch, and is easy to spend time with. He keeps the action moving, and supports it with interesting details about demolition tactics, informercials, legal procedures and, when discussing one of the more memorable characters, world philosophy.
I really enjoyed BLOWN AWAY. Highly recommended.
In BLOWN AWAY, virtually everyone is on the make: corrupt senators, deceitful employees, jealous wives, standover men, ambitious cops. Even the police dog has his own agenda. When all these characters clash together in the events surrounding the planned demolition of an enormous, derelict ironworks, the result is a gripping read with plenty of humorous moments. Some are laugh-out-loud, but most are of the dryer, more satisfying ‘I shouldn’t’ kind.
Central to the action is the dysfunctional McClintock family, comprising well-meaning construction company boss, Mac, his beautiful but insecure wife, Honey, and Honey’s spirited teenage daughter, Mags. The action begins when Honey suspects shenanigans between Mac and Mags, and reacts with typical impulsiveness, triggering a disastrous sequence of comic events that tear at the family bonds, jeopardising the family business, and drawing in the entire cast of characters, one by one, towards the dramatic signature event.
BLOWN AWAY asks the question, ‘Can good people survive in a corrupt world?’ As the two ‘good’ characters in the story, Mac and Mags face formidable opposition from the other side. Mac has a good heart and his instincts are to try and work with people, no matter how flawed. Mags is eager to make her mark in the family business, but is inexperienced and unused to the wide world and its dangers. The reader sympathises with them as they face off against the whole procession of bizarros who converge to spoil their plans.
These characters were my favourite part of the book. Each one is vividly drawn, with his or her own agenda, and a distinguishing flaw or tick. Spider Tarantella, the demolitions expert, has a habit of carrying on R-rated conversations with a voice in his head—usually out loud. Honey is so self-obsessed, she cannot see how good her life is with Mac and Mags. Bugle Boy, the police sniffer dog, plays a supporting role, but a memorable one with his own dreams of fame, and his own paradigm of the world as being made entirely of smells.
Finally, there is the narrator, who has a light touch, and is easy to spend time with. He keeps the action moving, and supports it with interesting details about demolition tactics, informercials, legal procedures and, when discussing one of the more memorable characters, world philosophy.
I really enjoyed BLOWN AWAY. Highly recommended.
May 5, 2018
A good read with (slightly dark) humour and a bit of suspense. The main reason for only 4-stars was the abrupt end. There was plenty of room for a number (many?) more chapters. Will there be a follow-up book to fill that void? I hope so. [After all, I do notice that there is a number of books available regarding Duane and Bugle Boy, and they really only played a minimal role in the story-line of this book.]
I'd recommend a read.
I'd recommend a read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews