Steppin' on a Rainbow
Book 14 of Masters of Crime
Language: English
Crime Fiction General Hawaii Humour Missing persons Mystery Mystery & Detective Private Investigators
Publisher: Pocket
Published: Aug 28, 2001
Book 14 of Masters of Crime
Language: English
Crime Fiction General Hawaii Humour Missing persons Mystery Mystery & Detective Private Investigators
Publisher: Pocket
Published: Aug 28, 2001
Description:
From Publishers Weekly
The eponymous PI Kinky Friedman (aka the Kinkster) is up to his usual amusing antics in his 14th outing (after 2000's The Mile High Club). From beginning to end, the narrative sizzles with crackling dialogue and bawdy wit. New Yorker Kinky is trying to lead his quiet life as a lazy private detective while mooning over his friend Stephanie, with whom he would like to have more than a platonic relationship, when a problem comes over the blower (that's telephone to most of us) from the Kinkster's old friend, Willis Hoover, now a columnist for the Honolulu Advertiser. Their mutual eccentric friend (all Kinky's friends are eccentric), Mike McGovern, has disappeared from the beach in Hawaii, and Hoover needs the Kinkster's help finding the missing man. Kinky persuades Stephanie to join him for a trip to the 50th state, where they meet up with Hoover and pursue McGovern's trail. They soon get into very deep waters, particularly after beautiful local reporter Carline also disappears. The crew chase around several islands, with a surprising denouement that reaches back into Hawaiian history and legend. As usual, a winning style and lively characterization more than compensate for the serviceable plot. One word of warning: for those whose taste doesn't run to foul language, this book might not be their cup of tea. 10-city author tour. Agent, Esther Newberg. (Sept. 5)not the character) to write a regular column; he has received a fan letter from President Bush.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
"The unaimed arrow never misses." This bit of "kahuna Zen" rather aptly encapsulates the Kinkster's modus operandi as he and his cohorts search for their missing friend McGovern thousands of miles from the Big Apple on the Hawaiian Islands. It also accurately applies to the leisurely, meandering, rambling, at times suspenseful, and often quite hilarious style that Friedman has perfected over the course of 14 novels featuring himself as amateur sleuth. This time the case involves missing ka'ai (ancient Hawaiian artifacts), the disappearance of a newspaper reporter, mysterious Hawaiian night marchers, the consumption of numerous "penis coladas," and the uncanny resemblance between McGovern and the ancient Hawaiian high chief Lonoikamakahiki. Plot is, however, really secondary in a Friedman caper, and saying that Friedman's books are character driven is understatement. Accompanying Kinky in the wild jungles of the big island are the limerick-spouting Hoover, the insanely rich McCall, and the unbelievably sexy Stephanie DuPont, with her dogs Thisbe and Baby. All this and a cameo by Don Ho, too. Benjamin Segedin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Sly, devious, inventive, and more than a little irritating, the Bard of Vandam Street returns in Steppin' on a Rainbow, a new adventure full of sound, fury, and a hula girl or two.
Alone in the world - meaning: anyone who will speak to him is out of town - Kinky Friedman ponders the imponderables of life and discusses the state of the world with his cat. The cat, of course, says nothing. Kinky's reverie (and constant state of morbid self-absorption) is interrupted by a call from an old friend in Hawaii, Will Hoover, a journalist on a Honolulu newspaper. Hoover has called with a problem: Mike McGovern, one of Kinky's sidekicks and a stalwart Village Irregular, visiting Hawaii to work on a book, has disappeared while strolling on the beach. Knowing McGovern's penchant for taking the occasional side trip, Kinky is not overly concerned.
As the days turn into yet more days, however, consternation grows to the point where Stephanie Dupont (called home from a Caribbean lull to bury her sixteen-year-old pesky Maltese dog) urges Kinky to fly to Hawaii to look into McGovern's disappearance and even offers to join him in the search. Additional support comes from P. I. Steve Rambam, who wings in from Israel to join in the hunt, as well as Kinky's pal John McCall, the Shampoo King from Dripping Springs. Texas, that is.
Once in Hawaii, Kinky, Stephanie, Rambam, Hoover, and McCall set off on a perilous adventure involving ancient myths, sacrificial cults, totems, taboos, and the occasional lei.
Steppin' on a Rainbow is Kinky Friedman doing what only Kinky Friedman can do - and, as always, it's outrageous, unsettling, and very, very moving, all at once.