Bandit Queen Boogie [Paperback]

Sparkle Hayter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2005

Blackie and Chloe, two best friends, decide to spend the summer after graduation backpacking through Europe. One is dark and boisterous, the other blond and quiet. Together, they are an irresistible combination to men...married men to be exact. Accepting these cheaters' invitations to their hotel suites, Blackie and Chloe beat them at their own games and make off with cash and whatever valuables are at hand while the men sleep it off. When their latest victim turns up dead, the gig is up...and the Bandit Queens are on the run.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Fans of her acclaimed Robin Hudson series already appreciate the wacky world of Sparkle Hayter, but this stand-alone comic thriller kicks it up several notches. Hayter's superhip version of chick lit features two twentysomething heroines who take Europe by storm on the ultimate post-college road trip. Icy blonde Chloe and tattooed brunette Blackie head for Italy, armed with backpacks and travel guides. Their main source of entertainment, however, soon proves to be ripping off the sleazy, lying married men who come on to them almost constantly. Although their schemes work perfectly at first, they soon mess with the wrong guy and steal a valuable statue of the Hindu god Ganesh. Among the multitude of fascinating characters populating Hayter's story are an East Indian mob family, a depressed newspaperman, and a spoiled runaway heiress who continually snorts coke. Hayter's stories work so well because she not only creates the interesting characters and over-the-top plots but because she does so in a dry, straight-faced prose style that makes it all the funnier. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

SPARKLE HAYTER is the author of the acclaimed Robin Hudson mystery series and Naked Brunch. She lives in Paris. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: No Exit Press (July 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184243134X
• ISBN-13: 978-1842431344
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,874,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Was it my gender?, May 25, 2006

By 

Catfish Kozmo (Arlington, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bandit Queen Boogie: A Novel (Paperback)

My wife made fun of me for reading this book because it's pink (and I'm color-blind and couldn't tell).

I've read almost all of her other books. In general they're all pretty good. But this one sort of confused / bored me. It's got the "girls out of country go wild thing" going on but it just never really seemed to develop beyond that to me. Oh well, maybe her next book will pull me in better.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a different novel for Hayter..., September 10, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bandit Queen Boogie: A Novel (Paperback)

With my reading of Sparkle Hayter's latest book, Bandit Queen Boogie, I'm now up to date on her writings. And I must say, this one is unusual... It's difficult to describe the plot, as there are several wacky subplots that seem unrelated but converge at the end...

Blackie and Chloe, two friends who appeared mismatched but understood each other, decide to head off to Europe to help Chloe forget a relationship. While over there, they find out that they have a knack for running cons that separate men on the prowl from their money. That's the main thread. In initially unrelated subplots, you have an Indian crime boss who's Ganesh god statue is stolen with something of value stashed inside. There's a rebellious heiress that skips out on court-ordered rehab and is trying to meet up with her boyfriend so they can run off together. A reporter who's apparently on the edge is over in Europe on a company-ordered "vacation" and is stripped of a story he's been working on. And believe it or not, all these things end up meshing at the end. The girls are thought to have killed the son-in-law of the crime boss after he stole the statue. They are being pursued unknowingly by his hired goons. The reporter is trying to come up with a blockbuster story, and he's going to try and uncover the story of the heiress. The heiress is on the run but her boyfriend has apparently dumped her and taken off with her money. Chloe is mistaken as the heiress traveling with a Canadian friend, so everyone wants to find her. Neither of the girls know much of what is transpiring. There's a few more subplots there, too... But any more would give things away, and it's just too confusing to try and explain anyway...

This is a strange novel. If you like crazy stories going off in different directions, and situations where peoples' lives intersect with each other in unusual ways, then you'll most likely enjoy this read. If you want a logical plot with believable story lines and rational scenarios, then this one will drive you up the wall. I think I enjoyed the writing more than the story, but your mileage may vary...

2.0 out of 5 stars Not my type of book, December 27, 2011

By 

Emily (IN, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bandit Queen Boogie (Paperback)

This book has great chapter names. Unfortunately, that's where my enjoyment of the book ended. I didn't like the writing style, the book was hard to read and the characters were not enjoyable or interesting. This was not my type of book.