In his career, Dave Barry has done just about everything—written bestselling nonfiction, won a Pulitzer Prize, seen his life turned into a television series. And now, at last, he has joined the long list of literary figures from Jane Austen to Tolstoy who have made the transition from humor columnist to novelist—and done it with a style and inventiveness that establishes that, yes, he is very good at that, too.
In the city of Coconut Grove, Florida, these things happen: A struggling adman named Eliot Arnold drives home from a meeting with the Client From Hell. His teenage son, Matt, fills his Squirtmaster 9000 for his turn at a high school game called Killer. Matt's intended victim, Jenny Herk, sits down in front of the TV with her mom for what she hopes will be a peaceful evening—for once. Jenny's alcoholic and secretly embezzling stepfather, Arthur, emerges from the maid's room, angry at being rebuffed—again. Henry and Leonard, two hit men from New Jersey, pull up to the Herks' house for a real game of Killer—Arthur's embezzlement apparently not having been quite so secret to his employers after all. And a homeless man named Puggy settles down for the night in a treehouse just inside the Herks' yard.
In a few minutes, a chain of events that will change the lives of each and every one of them will begin, and will leave some of them wiser, some of them deader, and some of them definitely looking for a new line of work. With a wicked wit, razor-sharp observations, rich characters, and a plot with more twists than the Inland Waterway, Dave Barry makes his debut a complete and utter triumph.
Download and start listening now!
"Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ho,ho,ho. Roger is hilarious. Snake and Eddie are pathetically funny. Can't stand Arthur Herk. Elliott Arnold really, really messes up his son Matt's love life. Puggy and Nina deserve eternal happiness. I love Christopher Moore's offbeat humor. Barry's "Big Trouble" is right at the top of my list of books that made me chuckle and laugh out loud without any embarassment at all. Those who thought I was the weird guy in the waiting room just missed it. While they were watching daytime talk, I was having some of the best entertainment there is. The story takes place in Florida and involves New Jersey hitmen, Russian expats selling arms out of the back of their poorly-located bar, dedicated FBI anti-terrorism agents, a corrupt Miami contractor about to get his comeuppance for embezzling his corrupt bosses, the contractor's beautiful, and really strong wife and daughter, a very strong homeless man that lives in the tree in the contractor's backyard, the georgeous immigrant housekeeper, a defeated journalist and his bored son, and lastly, a starving dog and his nemesis, a greedy poisonous toad. Oops, I forgot the most inept street hoodlums ever on a quest to take down a Miami drug kingpin. Barry's story flows effortlessly from start to finish. This is a real page-turner. Loved it."
—
Theophilus (5 out of 5 stars)