Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza (2021) To find a gem of a book like this counts as one of the big reasons we started this blog in the first place.....
......to tell everyone what a terrific, 'don't miss' read we just stumbled onto.
The author's background includes co-creating the 'Deadpool' character and that kind of razor sharp, snarky, subversive wit runs all the way through this murder mystery set in a small New Jersey town.
Best of all, it features an unforgettably oddball pair of a quirky rogue detectives who take it upon themselves to solve a seemingly unmotivated murder of a harmless gas station attendant, a member of the town's Asian-Indian community.
Andie Stern, mother to a rambunctious brood of four kids and heavily pregnant with a fifth, was once a brilliant, promising potential FBI profiler who actually helped catch a serial killer in her college days. The roads not taken have now rendered her an exhausted suburban mom, disillusioned with life and disgusted with her white collar criminal husband. But she's still the smartest person in the room with an overpowering thwarted urge to any solve any crime that comes her way.
Also afflicted with dreams and ambitions gone awry is Kenny Lee, a disgraced Asian-American journalist who once nursed a crush on Andie all through high school. A one time Pulitzer Prize winner for exposing a corrupt governor, Kenny's been scraping bottom ever since he was found out fabricating facts for one of his stories.
This unlikely duo both armed with sharp minds and killer repartee, suspect that the gas station kid's random murder has some deeper, darker implications for the town. (Even with its diverse, multi-cultural population, the systemic racism in the town's police department still runs rampant )
Joining forces, Andie and Kenny become a relentless detecting team who dig for clues (in every sense of that word, sometimes literally) until they've cracked the case wide open......and in doing so, author Nicieza hits every current hot button you can name......culture wars, the lingering stench of decades old racism, government corruption, women's empowerment versus men's entitlement, and the deep divide between generations.
But let's not forget the main things we loved about "Suburban Dicks"......the perceptive, heartfelt depiction of its two deeply flawed characters......and the explosively funny laugh out loud humor that permeates their adventures.
Put this one on the very top of your TBR list......we knew the rating on this one as soon as we finished the last page......a five star (*****) FIND OF FINDS.
No comments:
Post a Comment