From Publishers Weekly
Set in a seedy, sun-baked Hawaii that most tourists don't know exists, Smith's frenetic second novel (after
Moist) begins with a flash-forward to a Greek tragedy of a luau. Roasting human flesh was not on the agenda for Joseph when he set out to become a professional chef, but a battle to keep the family catering business from being ruined by a greedy rival gradually drives him to desperation. The battle begins when a gay TV producer flies to the islands for a film shoot, sparking a contest over who will provide food for the set. Joseph, his uncle Sid and dimwitted cousin Wilson have been the only game in town, but a nasty, horny, recovering stroke victim with Mafia connections has come to Honolulu from Las Vegas to take over the film-catering industry. Sid is not about to let his paradise dream be wrecked, but then hit men are brought in. Meanwhile, Joseph must decide whether to follow his culinary dreams to New York City, support his uncle's war against the outsiders or indulge a gay suitor to save the family business - all of which leads to that luau from hell. At once sexy and repulsive, the novel manages to plant sharp moral and cultural barbs in its gorge-feast of a plot.
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In this darkly comic novel, Smith writes like Carl Hiaasen's oversexed cousin. Gifted Hawaiian chef Joseph and his uncle run a successful catering business in Oahu, making custom meals for the production crews of movies and TV shows. Then the Mob-connected owner of a Las Vegas catering company, who is secretly addicted to lap dancers, sinks $20 million into an effort to take over business on the island, and Joseph and his family draw on their heritage and cooking skills to fight back in unique fashion. Caught up in the madness are a gay TV producer whose recent breakup has fueled a hedonistic frenzy that causes him to painfully overdose on Viagra; his homely assistant, who, on the advice of a local pimp, gets a wild haircut that turns her into an androgynous sex symbol; and a hit man who takes too much Ecstasy and paddles off into the sunset. Veteran screenwriter Smith, in his second novel after
Moist (2002), excels at cooking up a supremely weird atmosphere and spicing it up with equally weird sex and violence.
Joanne WilkinsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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