Showing posts with label ben rehder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ben rehder. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 04, 2018
Friday, July 29, 2016
FFB Review: Holy Moly by Ben Rehder
It is repeat time here
today for FFB. The review below first appeared back in June of 2008. This blog was in its
infancy and a whopping 35 people saw it. That means that most likely the review
is new to you and that would be a good thing. After you read my effort, make
sure you head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet
Freedom blog for the FFB list.
The death of backhoe operator Hollis Farley appears at first
glance to be a tragic accident. Found underneath his overturned rig on land he
was clearing to make way for a mega church near the Pedernales River, Hollis
Farley died on the job. But, this is Blanco County where weird things happen
and this one is another. Instead of being killed when the backhoe hit a boulder
and flipped as first theorized, it turns out that he was shot in the back with
an arrow capped with a broadhead hunting point.
As the case unfolds and Game Warden John Marlin's involvement increases, the facts and the people involved get stranger and stranger. Finding a dinosaur bone on the property of the planned mega church didn't get Hollis Farley killed. What he did afterwards just might have done the trick. With so many having a motive for doing the deed, it is up to John Marlin and Sheriff Bobby Garza to flush the real killer out before he or she strikes again.
Much like he did with Gun Shy Austin, Texas area writer Ben Rehder has penned another often funny novel that lets everyone in sight have it. This time his main target is the religious hypocrisy often found in the mega churches. It is tempting to speculate a bit as to which church served as inspiration but unnecessary. Considering past events across the country, this satiric novel could easily become too real in coming months as no doubt another religious leader of a mega church will be caught doing something very wrong. It is inevitable—much like news reports of Jesus sightings in recently washed windows and fried food products.
In the meantime what we have here is yet another often funny novel sent in Blanco County, Texas featuring a strange murder, a ton of offbeat characters, and the resulting twisted and often funny search for justice. The book is another tale of the weird, funny and often absurd that packs a punch to the mind and the gut. Beyond the continuing romance involving John Marlin there is no real character development to speak of regarding the returning characters. That romance is a minor factor in the book with most of the focus on the murder case and the cast of offbeat characters who are involved at various levels. The result is a good piece of work with plenty of comedy and mystery guaranteed to keep readers entertained to the very last page.
Holy Moly
Ben Rehder
http://www.benrehder.com
St. Martins Paperbacks
http://www.minotuarbooks.com
May 2008
ISBN# 0-312-35754-0
ARC
As the case unfolds and Game Warden John Marlin's involvement increases, the facts and the people involved get stranger and stranger. Finding a dinosaur bone on the property of the planned mega church didn't get Hollis Farley killed. What he did afterwards just might have done the trick. With so many having a motive for doing the deed, it is up to John Marlin and Sheriff Bobby Garza to flush the real killer out before he or she strikes again.
Much like he did with Gun Shy Austin, Texas area writer Ben Rehder has penned another often funny novel that lets everyone in sight have it. This time his main target is the religious hypocrisy often found in the mega churches. It is tempting to speculate a bit as to which church served as inspiration but unnecessary. Considering past events across the country, this satiric novel could easily become too real in coming months as no doubt another religious leader of a mega church will be caught doing something very wrong. It is inevitable—much like news reports of Jesus sightings in recently washed windows and fried food products.
In the meantime what we have here is yet another often funny novel sent in Blanco County, Texas featuring a strange murder, a ton of offbeat characters, and the resulting twisted and often funny search for justice. The book is another tale of the weird, funny and often absurd that packs a punch to the mind and the gut. Beyond the continuing romance involving John Marlin there is no real character development to speak of regarding the returning characters. That romance is a minor factor in the book with most of the focus on the murder case and the cast of offbeat characters who are involved at various levels. The result is a good piece of work with plenty of comedy and mystery guaranteed to keep readers entertained to the very last page.
Holy Moly
Ben Rehder
http://www.benrehder.com
St. Martins Paperbacks
http://www.minotuarbooks.com
May 2008
ISBN# 0-312-35754-0
ARC
Kevin R. Tipple © 2008, 2016
Monday, September 28, 2015
Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Book Signing Tonight
Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Book Signing Tonight: I'll be in Austin this evening to sign books at Book People along with Ben Rehder and Reavis Wortham . All you Austin folks come on out...
Friday, April 05, 2013
FFB Review: "Gun Shy" by Ben Rehder
Humor is a delicate thing and certainly that is true in mysteries. The
author runs the risk of alienating readers in an attempt to be funny.
Humor is subjective and those that swim happily in the politically
correct ocean don't appreciate humor. I'm not one of those and if you
still read my columns and reviews, I suspect you aren't one either.
Neither is Texas author Ben Rehder and the book is funny as well as
being very good.
Gun Shy
Ben Rehder
http://www.benrehder.com
St. Martin's Minotaur
ISBN# 978-0-312-35752-8
May 2007
ARC
John Marlin has been a game warden in Blanco County, Texas for more than twenty years. He has stories to tell about the amazingly stupid things he has seen folks do and the things they have said to him. Like the day when a woman who had just recently moved down from Dallas called to complain about the wild deer in her yard eating her plants. She thought that if the deer crossing sign was removed from the street in front of her house the deer wouldn't show up in her yard anymore.
So when Ken Bell who has been around since just after World War II calls, he isn't too worried. That is until Ken explains that in an effort to run off the latest poacher on his land he left fly with some birdshot. Except his shotgun was loaded instead with buckshot and the man fell over and isn't moving. Ken is afraid to go take a look and thinks the man is dead. John Marlin quickly confirms that the young Hispanic man is dead. But, he wasn't killed by Ken Bell.
He's been dead for a couple of days and the scene was staged to make it look like a hunting accident. Ironic as in just a few days the National Weapons Alliance is set to rally in support of the right to carry guns for every American at the nearby ranch of current country and western superstar Mitch Campbell. A man that seems to have more in common with the late Elvis than anyone else and is a rolling freight train of disaster.
What follows is a cozy style mystery read packed with multiple secondary storylines, numerous characters, and plenty of pointed humor directed at both sides of the gun debate as well as other targets. Author Ben Rehder pulls no punches and by the end of the book, it isn't clear which side received more plates of heaping scorn. Along the way, he takes shots at the media, misguided celebrity worship, modern day marketing of music, and numerous other groups and individuals. It becomes tempting to try to link various characters and groups with their real life counterparts as often the fictional veil is very thin indeed.
However, the book is fiction and as such, the read is often laugh out loud funny. While the main storyline of the original killing involving game warden John Marlin is obvious, almost nothing else is which serves the overall purpose for keeping the reader interested and entertained. The result is a funny, occasionally coarse read, that works on every level and does so without the author drawing attention to himself.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2007, 2013
More reviews for Friday's Forgotten Books can be found over at Patti’s blog.
Gun Shy
Ben Rehder
http://www.benrehder.com
St. Martin's Minotaur
ISBN# 978-0-312-35752-8
May 2007
ARC
John Marlin has been a game warden in Blanco County, Texas for more than twenty years. He has stories to tell about the amazingly stupid things he has seen folks do and the things they have said to him. Like the day when a woman who had just recently moved down from Dallas called to complain about the wild deer in her yard eating her plants. She thought that if the deer crossing sign was removed from the street in front of her house the deer wouldn't show up in her yard anymore.
So when Ken Bell who has been around since just after World War II calls, he isn't too worried. That is until Ken explains that in an effort to run off the latest poacher on his land he left fly with some birdshot. Except his shotgun was loaded instead with buckshot and the man fell over and isn't moving. Ken is afraid to go take a look and thinks the man is dead. John Marlin quickly confirms that the young Hispanic man is dead. But, he wasn't killed by Ken Bell.
He's been dead for a couple of days and the scene was staged to make it look like a hunting accident. Ironic as in just a few days the National Weapons Alliance is set to rally in support of the right to carry guns for every American at the nearby ranch of current country and western superstar Mitch Campbell. A man that seems to have more in common with the late Elvis than anyone else and is a rolling freight train of disaster.
What follows is a cozy style mystery read packed with multiple secondary storylines, numerous characters, and plenty of pointed humor directed at both sides of the gun debate as well as other targets. Author Ben Rehder pulls no punches and by the end of the book, it isn't clear which side received more plates of heaping scorn. Along the way, he takes shots at the media, misguided celebrity worship, modern day marketing of music, and numerous other groups and individuals. It becomes tempting to try to link various characters and groups with their real life counterparts as often the fictional veil is very thin indeed.
However, the book is fiction and as such, the read is often laugh out loud funny. While the main storyline of the original killing involving game warden John Marlin is obvious, almost nothing else is which serves the overall purpose for keeping the reader interested and entertained. The result is a funny, occasionally coarse read, that works on every level and does so without the author drawing attention to himself.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2007, 2013
More reviews for Friday's Forgotten Books can be found over at Patti’s blog.
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