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NoirNovels.com - A unique repository for all things noir
Buzz Monkey
Reviewed By Steve Nester Have you ever done anything for the helluvit, for no other reason than for the thrill of not knowing how an action you have taken might turn out? Ever place yourself in harm?s way just to get a rush? Shoplift, run a stoplight, or commit a crime with a loaded weapon even though you have a wallet full of cash? If you have, you?re a buzz monkey, a person addicted to the adrenaline rush that?s produced any time you jump into the unknown with no guarantees on your personal safety or anything else. Top Kiernan is a buzz monkey, and in Sam Hill?s eponymous first novel there isn?t much he won?t do to satisfy his jones for a natural high. A good time to Top is to stay awake for days running on adrenaline and dodging bullets. Top seems to live the life of a slacker done good. He?s the CEO of his own research firm, which he runs from his home, a 1930s-era schoolhouse outside of Athen?s, Georgia. It?s a mellow existence, until things get too slow. Then it?s time to catch a buzz. Top gets in contact with the local mercenary employment agency?run from a local saloon, and off he goes to South America to help shepherd back some contraband. Walter Mitty never had it so good. But when old friend and successful dope dealer Dee Laine goes missing with a suitcase of money belonging to an Atlanta drug lord, Top is put on the spot to produce the man and the money. Soon enough IRA assassins, DEA agents on the prowl for some under-the-radar income, and the local dope manufacturing hillbilly entrepreneurs follow. To stay alive, Top has to find the money and prove he isn?t helping Dee. Taking place in the strange part of the world where academia, government, and crime meet, "Buzz Monkey" successfully shows how professionals employed in the shadowy trade of intrigue are able to maneuver among their professional peers when shifting allegiances keep trust and friendship in the realm of the theoretical. |
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