A fun book, very enjoyable and I liked reading it.
Good prose, nice characters and overall a pleasant story.

"Don't Be Cruel"

This book starts out as a sun baked mystery. Our private investigator hero, John, heads to Las Vegas, New Mexico, (which in reality is a very cool and laid back place in northern New Mexico), to track down an Elvis sighting for a tabloid newspaper. The intern who preceded him ended up dead in the desert, so we know bad things are going to happen. But, our hero is just killing time on the paper while he perfects his skills as an enigmatologist - that is, a builder of crossword puzzles. Right off the bat this is a tip off that the tale is not going to be a standard crime and murder in the desert sort of mystery.

We start off with some snappy dialogue, some interesting internal monologues on John's part, a little action, and the general sense that this story may be a bit bumpy and weird, but could be fun. That sense continues after John gets to Las Vegas. After a strange and strangely funny interview with a sex-starved elderly Elvis fan, we definitely know this book could go anywhere. And then it veers completely off the tracks.

Do you remember the X-Files episodes that were light-hearted and played more for comedy? The Ed Asner/Lily Tomlin Christmas episode, the Michael McKean as Mulder episode, the classic and touching Peter Boyle as Clyde Bruckner episode? Well, that's sort of like what you get here. MILD RANDOM SPOILERS. You get Elvis impersonators, a government conspiracy, an Air Force coverup, Area 51, Roswell, Elvis as a special alien detecting government agent, body snatching, Elvis's dog walker, and about a dozen other alien angles I won't specify in order to not ruin all of the surprises.

This book has everything and it screams along, aided in large part by huge chunks of monologuing, explanatory diary entries, and general exposition. There are plot holes you could drive a spaceship through and all kinds of groan-worthy dialogue, but the whole thing has an antic, free wheeling, subversive, and just generally amiable energy that kept me going. It even has a hot romance. And, some very clever one-liners and throwaway lines from our sometimes hapless hero.

So, while it's a hot mess, it's fun and very entertaining in an antic and haphazard sort of way. I don't think I could take a steady diet of books like this, but sometimes you have to just let the Jailhouse Rock.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)