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Very Mercenary
From the author of 6 Sick Hipsters comes a razor-sharp, darkly satirical, brilliantly warped new novel about murder, love, torture, art, ninjas, ambition, drugs. . .and everything in between.
Leigh Tiller has just been kidnapped. The beautiful, ineffably cool New York socialite is being held by a group of mentally ill terrorists who've demanded millions in ransom from Leigh's wealthy father.
There's just one Kip Tiller doesn't want Leigh back. He wants her dead. And he's hired The Serologist--a psychotic, patchwork-scarred hit man--to make sure it happens.
Leigh's unlikely savior is Laser Mechanic, the coolly brilliant leader of the guerrilla art collective, Strategic Art Defense. Now, Laser, his team of highly trained artists, and Leigh are on their way to Las Vegas, running from The Serologist and the cops. . .and into a head-on collision with several contract killers--the Gashes, vicious girl bikers, the Black Sultans, adolescent gang-bangers, and the Bisons, a pair of sadistic, meth-addled brothers--looking to make a fast fortune. The outcome will be bloody, brutal, bizarre--and utterly unexpected. . .
Praise for Rayo Casablanca and Six Sick Hipsters
"Thoroughly amusing and utterly demented." --Owen King, author of We're All In This Together
"A wild, poignant, twisted, bitterly funny page turner." --Jason Starr, author of The Follower
"A wild ride of a novel." --Jeff Parker, author of Ovenman and The Back of the Line
"Mad as a bag of artistic squirrels. With guns. Very brilliant and very original." --Allan Guthrie, author of Savage Night
"Anarchy as art, rampaging hitmen, and some serious Daddy Issues fuel Rayo Casablanca's violent, savvy, and propulsive Very Mercenary. Think Andy Warhol meets The Monkey Wrench Gang and you're getting the picture. Casablanca's writing cuts hard, fast, and deep as a buzzsaw. Reader you're going to bleed." --Craig Davidson, author of The Fighter
Leigh Tiller has just been kidnapped. The beautiful, ineffably cool New York socialite is being held by a group of mentally ill terrorists who've demanded millions in ransom from Leigh's wealthy father.
There's just one Kip Tiller doesn't want Leigh back. He wants her dead. And he's hired The Serologist--a psychotic, patchwork-scarred hit man--to make sure it happens.
Leigh's unlikely savior is Laser Mechanic, the coolly brilliant leader of the guerrilla art collective, Strategic Art Defense. Now, Laser, his team of highly trained artists, and Leigh are on their way to Las Vegas, running from The Serologist and the cops. . .and into a head-on collision with several contract killers--the Gashes, vicious girl bikers, the Black Sultans, adolescent gang-bangers, and the Bisons, a pair of sadistic, meth-addled brothers--looking to make a fast fortune. The outcome will be bloody, brutal, bizarre--and utterly unexpected. . .
Praise for Rayo Casablanca and Six Sick Hipsters
"Thoroughly amusing and utterly demented." --Owen King, author of We're All In This Together
"A wild, poignant, twisted, bitterly funny page turner." --Jason Starr, author of The Follower
"A wild ride of a novel." --Jeff Parker, author of Ovenman and The Back of the Line
"Mad as a bag of artistic squirrels. With guns. Very brilliant and very original." --Allan Guthrie, author of Savage Night
"Anarchy as art, rampaging hitmen, and some serious Daddy Issues fuel Rayo Casablanca's violent, savvy, and propulsive Very Mercenary. Think Andy Warhol meets The Monkey Wrench Gang and you're getting the picture. Casablanca's writing cuts hard, fast, and deep as a buzzsaw. Reader you're going to bleed." --Craig Davidson, author of The Fighter
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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31 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 27, 2012
I read Very Mercenary last Summer, and I read it in a single day while traveling through a few layovers in route to New York. A short review would simply tell you that I disembarked my last flight with a smile on my face. I did. It was a big smile. A good day. So, this longer review is a long time coming, and it comes late, but the good news for everyone browsing here, is that it's not too late to pick up Rayo Casablanca's second novel and inject some kick-ass into your life.
One look at the cover and title, and I was pulled in. It's graphic and sharp and perfect; really, everything that so many novels on the shelf are not (I hope Casablanca's future novels retain the look). As a visually inclined artist, that can sell me, or at the very least, set my expectations. This novel had me marked in a laser sight. I opened the pages and welcomed my fate.
Very Mercenary is no Rockwell painting and certainly, despite the name of a main character (Leigh) being a subtle nod toward Tom Robbins's Still Life with Woodpecker, this is definitely no still life. This novel moves. It's an American story told in lock, stock, smoking barrel tradition. It flips and kicks. It is fun. The novel mixes saturated hues with splattered reds and fills the canvas.
Casablanca creates characters that initially possess a laundry list of unlikeable traits, and somehow, as the story progresses, he makes them likable. Self-involved artists steeped in their own brand of narcissism, a rich-bitch deb, a serial killer(The Seriologist), and a host of face-punched cameos all unravel each other until you find yourself unequivocally on their side -- good or evil, smart or stupid-- rooting for them all. The person the reader may expect to like the least, the heiress "princess" Leigh, turns out to be the character you may root for the most as she stumbles upon her passions within her twisted, rolling adventure.
Sparking set pieces crack and the characters shine. Scenes are filled with Wendy-O-Williams biker chicks, teenage gangstas, drug-addled psychotics, bazookas and harpoons. This is the stuff of comic books and action films. The comparisons to that brand of storytelling are inevitable, and according to my taste, I applaud it. I could compare the novel to those by Charlie Huston or Duane Swierczynski, which would be a good start, but it's impossible not to think of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino here. I think those names provide a more appropriate frame for this world.
Among all of this visceral chaos and visual goodness (are you listening Hollywood?), Casablanca manages in a small, almost meta way, to satirize and provide some subtext with regard to the spontaneity of art and life. It's no easy trick, and I should add, it's no easy trick to create a romantic relationship in a hail of bullets. I'm a tough customer when it comes to romantic emotion, and I must confess that for a few pages this feeling surfaces in perfect pitch. The character dimensions resonate. My ears burned. It's that moment when I realized this novel rises above many others written in a similar vein.
The novel allows itself to be fun. It takes the best parts of 6 Sick Hipsters, leaves any heavy handed proselytizing behind, and manages to find plausible motivations for Casablanca's over-the-top kinetics. The characters live and the thematics are subtle, allowing the world to exist within its own spontaneous combustions. It just opens the door and begs you to dive in and go for the ride.
If I had a critical issue, it would be with the choice of ending, but that may be a matter of personal taste. As chosen, it still works very well, and that may be a credit to the novel, as I can see any number of endings working toward a satisfying result.
Just once, I want to be able to look a girl in the eye, wink, and say with all sincerity, "Wasn't always a ninja."
Very Mercenary is a snow-globe of cool and chaos that does it's damage quick and leaves you wanting more. Very kick-ass and very welcome on this reader's shelf. 5 stars.
One look at the cover and title, and I was pulled in. It's graphic and sharp and perfect; really, everything that so many novels on the shelf are not (I hope Casablanca's future novels retain the look). As a visually inclined artist, that can sell me, or at the very least, set my expectations. This novel had me marked in a laser sight. I opened the pages and welcomed my fate.
Very Mercenary is no Rockwell painting and certainly, despite the name of a main character (Leigh) being a subtle nod toward Tom Robbins's Still Life with Woodpecker, this is definitely no still life. This novel moves. It's an American story told in lock, stock, smoking barrel tradition. It flips and kicks. It is fun. The novel mixes saturated hues with splattered reds and fills the canvas.
Casablanca creates characters that initially possess a laundry list of unlikeable traits, and somehow, as the story progresses, he makes them likable. Self-involved artists steeped in their own brand of narcissism, a rich-bitch deb, a serial killer(The Seriologist), and a host of face-punched cameos all unravel each other until you find yourself unequivocally on their side -- good or evil, smart or stupid-- rooting for them all. The person the reader may expect to like the least, the heiress "princess" Leigh, turns out to be the character you may root for the most as she stumbles upon her passions within her twisted, rolling adventure.
Sparking set pieces crack and the characters shine. Scenes are filled with Wendy-O-Williams biker chicks, teenage gangstas, drug-addled psychotics, bazookas and harpoons. This is the stuff of comic books and action films. The comparisons to that brand of storytelling are inevitable, and according to my taste, I applaud it. I could compare the novel to those by Charlie Huston or Duane Swierczynski, which would be a good start, but it's impossible not to think of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino here. I think those names provide a more appropriate frame for this world.
Among all of this visceral chaos and visual goodness (are you listening Hollywood?), Casablanca manages in a small, almost meta way, to satirize and provide some subtext with regard to the spontaneity of art and life. It's no easy trick, and I should add, it's no easy trick to create a romantic relationship in a hail of bullets. I'm a tough customer when it comes to romantic emotion, and I must confess that for a few pages this feeling surfaces in perfect pitch. The character dimensions resonate. My ears burned. It's that moment when I realized this novel rises above many others written in a similar vein.
The novel allows itself to be fun. It takes the best parts of 6 Sick Hipsters, leaves any heavy handed proselytizing behind, and manages to find plausible motivations for Casablanca's over-the-top kinetics. The characters live and the thematics are subtle, allowing the world to exist within its own spontaneous combustions. It just opens the door and begs you to dive in and go for the ride.
If I had a critical issue, it would be with the choice of ending, but that may be a matter of personal taste. As chosen, it still works very well, and that may be a credit to the novel, as I can see any number of endings working toward a satisfying result.
Just once, I want to be able to look a girl in the eye, wink, and say with all sincerity, "Wasn't always a ninja."
Very Mercenary is a snow-globe of cool and chaos that does it's damage quick and leaves you wanting more. Very kick-ass and very welcome on this reader's shelf. 5 stars.
February 3, 2009
Outperforms Casablanca's debut novel in every important metric: there are more ninjas (1), more scooter-riding pompadoured lesbian assassins (like 4-ish), and more chase scenes featuring the Landmaster from Damnation Alley (1, but any more would make your brain explode).
April 9, 2009
Rayo Casablanca’s Very Mercenary is a just-don’t-think-about-it action movie in a book, but with too much social commentary and inane twists, the plot goes from something you’d be willing to pay for in the movie theater to something you’d be willing to watch on late-night cable. Except, you know, in print.
Leigh Tiller is an attractive celebrity who has been kidnapped. Problem is, her father, Kip Tiller, instead of paying the ransom, hires out a scarred hitman, the Serologist, to kill everyone involved, including his daughter. Meanwhile, Laser Mechanic—leader of the Strategic Art Defense, a guerrilla group unleashing their work upon unsuspecting corporations—has a plan to rescue Leigh from her captors. The novel is full of swift actions sequences, especially as more contract killers—various gangbangers, biker chicks and psychopaths—get in on the hunt, but some of the action goes a little too fast.
Additionally, some of the Strategic Art Defense’s activity reads like an offshoot of Project Mayhem from Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club; so much so that some of their press releases sound like they come straight from Tyler Durden's mouth. (I suppose that’s the ultimate Project Mayhem effect—that real authors got their work out there thanks to the popularity of the idea.) Unfortunately, it seems like Casablanca—a film and music critic—is too close to the guerrilla style artists he’s commenting on to judge them appropriately. It’s a classic routine: No one thinks of themselves as a hipster, but they’ll certainly judge the rest by that insider knowledge.
The Strategic Art Defense group are ridiculous and unfortunately, they are the main characters. Leigh Tiller isn’t all that likeable either and the bulk of the dialogue from these parties comes off as overdone. Fortunately the villains—the Serologist especially—are entertaining, if only by the mayhem they cause. Additionally, the plot twists are so much of a U-turn that they essentially overwrite what you’ve already read, making past events nonsensical with what you’ve just found out. It’s an action story, I know—who needs logic? Let’s just blow stuff up!—but I would have liked a thread of ongoing logic throughout, even if Casablanca intentionally makes his books satirical and over-the-top. But is it entertaining? Minus the too-close-to-nail-it social commentary, absolutely, and I suppose that’s all most people are looking for. Me, I like to keep my brain turned on when reading. At least a little bit. Two stars.
Leigh Tiller is an attractive celebrity who has been kidnapped. Problem is, her father, Kip Tiller, instead of paying the ransom, hires out a scarred hitman, the Serologist, to kill everyone involved, including his daughter. Meanwhile, Laser Mechanic—leader of the Strategic Art Defense, a guerrilla group unleashing their work upon unsuspecting corporations—has a plan to rescue Leigh from her captors. The novel is full of swift actions sequences, especially as more contract killers—various gangbangers, biker chicks and psychopaths—get in on the hunt, but some of the action goes a little too fast.
Additionally, some of the Strategic Art Defense’s activity reads like an offshoot of Project Mayhem from Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club; so much so that some of their press releases sound like they come straight from Tyler Durden's mouth. (I suppose that’s the ultimate Project Mayhem effect—that real authors got their work out there thanks to the popularity of the idea.) Unfortunately, it seems like Casablanca—a film and music critic—is too close to the guerrilla style artists he’s commenting on to judge them appropriately. It’s a classic routine: No one thinks of themselves as a hipster, but they’ll certainly judge the rest by that insider knowledge.
The Strategic Art Defense group are ridiculous and unfortunately, they are the main characters. Leigh Tiller isn’t all that likeable either and the bulk of the dialogue from these parties comes off as overdone. Fortunately the villains—the Serologist especially—are entertaining, if only by the mayhem they cause. Additionally, the plot twists are so much of a U-turn that they essentially overwrite what you’ve already read, making past events nonsensical with what you’ve just found out. It’s an action story, I know—who needs logic? Let’s just blow stuff up!—but I would have liked a thread of ongoing logic throughout, even if Casablanca intentionally makes his books satirical and over-the-top. But is it entertaining? Minus the too-close-to-nail-it social commentary, absolutely, and I suppose that’s all most people are looking for. Me, I like to keep my brain turned on when reading. At least a little bit. Two stars.
December 2, 2009
If I could give this book 4.5 stars, I would. Casablanca's writing is unusual and refreshing, a total page turner. My only complaint is that I had trouble getting through the first 40 pages or so - there was some gore that was difficult for me. But as the character develops (and they all do!) I got intrigued. Definitely got invested in the main characters, Laser and Leigh, and just had to find out what was going to happen to them! Great socio-political commentary along the veins of Palahnuik's 'Fight Club', but not so intense. A great read!
May 18, 2009
Great, gritty book!
July 15, 2010
A crazy story about punk activists, amoral killers and a wealthy heiress. The characters and their antics are the drivers of this book. Too violent for my taste at times, but worth the ride.
January 19, 2014
very good review on lurid-lit.com.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews