Buzz Riff

Sam Hill

ISBN 10: 0786713909 / ISBN 13: 9780786713905

Published by Carroll & Graf Pub, 2004

Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0786713909I4N10

Synopsis:

After his successful debut in Buzz Monkey, Top Kiernan is back. Only life in Athens, Georgia has grown more complicated. His former office manager (and ex-lover) has stolen half his clients and set up shop on her own. Top's no longer banking big bucks as an operative for Shaw's Mercantile Marine, which has found his addiction to the adrenaline buzz a dangerous risk. He's six months behind in mortgage payments, and Fourth Federal is set to foreclose. So, for all his objections―the job's too small, the client's a racist―has no choice, really. He needs the twenty thousand. All he has to do is recover a Confederate battle flag―the one that stanched General "Stonewall" Jackson's wounds when he was fatally shot on May 2, 1863, and in that instant became an American relic of incalculable value. Top's search for the flag takes him and his friends on a raucous jaunt from Athens to the mansion of a multimillionaire stripper-turned-car-dealer to an armed compound in the Okefenokee Swamp to a tattoo convention. In between, they outwit and outrun obsessive collectors, bikers, ATF agents, the KKK, and more. It's not exactly the way to beat an adrenaline habit.

Reviews: The hardest thing about loading your first mystery with all sorts of tricks, treats and relatively original concepts is what to do for an encore. Following his delightful debut, Buzz Monkey (2003), which introduced adrenaline junkie/international mercenary/arcane-quotation expert Tip Kiernan, Hill hits this wall hard in the sequel. There are some alluring leftovers: Tip can still tell us that "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" didn't come from either Abraham Lincoln or the Bible (it was the 16th-century Dutch philosopher Erasmus) and then, minutes later, take down a crew of three thugs hired to send a message. But almost perversely, Hill turns everything that was great fun in Buzz Monkey into a downer. Among other problems, Tip's quotation-checking business, Polymath, is failing after his partner/lover runs off with the company's money and clients. Somehow, the prospect of earning 20 grand for recovering a famous Confederate flag (the one used to staunch the blood of dying General Stonewall Jackson) doesn't get either Tip or the reader really excited: it's just a job, even if the outcome does involve what the book's promotional copy calls "a raucous jaunt" with some zany cohorts—all of whom had a much better time in Hill's first book.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Athens, Georgia, mercenary Top Keirnan (Buzz Monkey, 2003) isn't thrilled about his latest gig--locating a famous Confederate flag for a controversial historian--but he needs the money. His research firm, a front for his off-the-books activities, is failing because an employee he fired for embezzling--and who was also his lover--has started a rival business that is stealing his clients. Keirnan's life sure is complicated, but this "buzz junkie" wouldn't have it any other way. His attempts to capture the flag introduce him to pedophiles, bikers, and white supremacists, while his other woes lead him to try dirty tricks, shady freelance work, and even legal maneuvers. Keirnan is lots of fun if a bit over the top: he remembers famous quotations verbatim and has a Holmesian eye for detail. He sleeps at center court in the gym of a lovingly restored 1930s-era elementary school. He's a bicyclist with bad knees. He's also tough, thoughtful, ruthless, and loyal. Supporting characters are less memorable, and pacing is uneven, but Hill's infectious enthusiasm somehow trumps these flaws. The second in a series with strong potential. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Bibliographic Details

Title: Buzz Riff
Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub
Publication Date: 2004
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket