{Review} Weed Killer by James Borwick

ISBN #: 978-0985867294

Page Count: 330

Copyright: August 6, 2012

Publisher: Spadefoot Press

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Weed Killer replaces the Philip Marlowe-style tough-guy hero with Eric Nine, a civilized, self-doubting, therapy-going mensch, bright enough to squeeze out of a tight corner, but out of his depth when investigating a murder. Soft-boiled Eric is drop-kicked into a hard-boiled world of malleable cops, over-confident gangsters, rapacious businessmen, prim socialites, and the occasional haughty poodle. He is no Sam Spade, taking a steam bath and downing a fifth of bourbon before a long night tailing a suspect. Instead, Eric smokes half a joint and brings a book-on-tape to keep him company. And when it comes to swapping jaded repartee with a psychopathic interrogator armed with a syringe, he is more likely to panic, to lose his nerve and run his ass off when the bad guys have their backs turned.

Kathy's Review:

This noir-esque story starts off with two stoners lamenting the death of their pot dealer in a fire. But when they learn that another pot dealer has also died in a fire, Eric Nine decides to investigate further. As one would expect, he gets dragged into some pretty weird stuff, including the world of show dogs, something involving a clown suit at a county fair, being kidnapped, and that's just the beginning.

I honestly didn't know where this story was going to go. I thought it could be a slapstick comedy of some guy high on pot trying to solve a murder. However, it ends up being more of a complex mystery with more and more layers being revealed as we go along. There are some genuinely funny moments throughout, and the writing is pretty solid. In the end, we don't really know much about our hero, Eric, except he likes to smoke pot, he's smart enough to figure out some connections between dead drug dealers, and he has some loyal friends. Overall I'd say this was a surprisingly good mystery that goes way beyond small-time pot dealers, and an exciting, fast-paced ride.


*An ebook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.