Extreme Odds (Adam McCleet Mysteries) - Hardcover

Hanson, Rick

3.21

24 ratings by Goodreads

9781575663333: Extreme Odds (Adam McCleet Mysteries)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1575663333 ISBN 13: 9781575663333

Publisher: Kensington Books, 1998

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A rollicking and wacky mystery sends ex-cop, ex-marine, sculptor, and super sleuth Adam McCleet to a former Indian reservation now known as the nation of Bob, a place created by a shyster named Buddy, where a rash of murders and bizarre events occurs and a cast of odd characters resides. 25,000 first printing.

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From Publishers Weekly:

The fifth mystery featuring Oregon-based ex-Marine and semi-enthusiastic sculptor Adam McCleet suffers from the same flaws as last year's Splitting Heirs. The plotting is predictable, and graceless sentences and feeble jokes bounce out from every page like boulders on a bad road. Hanson's characterizations are more than broad: in order to indicate that one of his characters is Jewish, for example, Hanson drowns Max Faverman in vaudevillian Yiddishisms ("Oy, she had such demands!" Max says about his late wife; "My son? The putz?" he says of his offspring). Max is so steeped in Catskills schmaltz that it's hard to take seriously McCleet's claim, "Though he owned the largest shoe manufacturing plant in the Pacific Northwest, I always thought he had the heart of a warrior." Max's son Buddy, the putz, has joined forces with some local Native Americans to secede from the Union, form their own countryAnamed BobAand get rich by opening a casino. McCleet is soon persuaded to head up Bob's law enforcement after the Bank of Buddy (which is issuing Buddy Bucks) is robbed. The galley carries a review quote comparing Hanson to Carl Hiaasen, but misfires like this novel only illustrate how good are the efforts of Hiaasen, Joe Lansdale and others who fashion offbeat comic mysteries that are truly funny and original.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

The latest Adam McCleet mystery finds the ex-cop turned sculptor visiting the Independent Republic of Bob, a tiny wanna-be country nestled in the Oregon countryside. Adam comes at a hectic period in Bob's short history--a resident is dead, possibly murdered, and the Bobites are about to exchange U.S. currency for "Buddy bucks," which means the Bank of Buddy will hold a whopping pile of money--and Adam reluctantly signs on as sheriff until things settle down a bit. As usual, Hanson delicately balances his story between light comedy and outright spoof. The Independent Republic of Bob is a funny little place, but it seems just normal enough to be plausible. Likewise, the characters are a bunch of loonies, but none of them is extreme enough to seem unreal. (Readers who recall the Newhart television series will recognize the other-world-set-within-this-one feel of this novel.) Recommended not only for Hanson's fans but for anyone who likes a puzzle and a chuckle. David Pitt

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