Staff Recommends - Plugged: A Novel by Eoin Colfer

Egged on by one of my favorite authors, Ken Bruen, to take a break from the world of young adult literature and enter the world of adult crime fiction, the author of the popular Artemis Fowl series of teen adventures turns to the seedy underbelly of New Jersey for this darkly funny tale of mobsters, murder and redemption. Daniel McEvoy mustered out of the Irish army after a couple of peacekeeping tours of Lebanon under his belt and is looking for a fresh start. Emigrating to America he finds the only jobs he can get are as bouncers at nightclubs, ending up at a sleazy New Jersey strip club. When one one of his favorite hostesses is harassed and then murdered, and his best friend is kidnapped, McEvoy is unwittingly plunged into his toughest mission since his military days. On the run from the mob, listening to a ghost of his missing friend and caught between two bloodthirsty cops, it will take all of Daniel's skills just to survive. This was a well written and frequently quite funny book: think Donald Westlake crossed with Alan Guthrie. Quite a bit of violence, so the squeamish might want to let this one pass by. But for fans of hard-boiled crime fiction with a touch of mordant humor, this is definitely a book to look out for. Plugged

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