Feelers [Hardcover]

Brian M Wiprud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2009

Morty Martinez is known in the industry of estate liquidation as a "feeler."  If you were to look him up in the Brooklyn yellow pages, he would be listed under "home content removal," but his real job is looking for stashes of cash crammed into tin cans that have been left out of wills, kept out of banks, and hidden away for decades by the frugal elderly suspicious of ATMs and the IRS.  When Morty hits upon the biggest score of his life, over $800,000.00, he knows that news travels fast and he must operate quickly and carefully to safeguard his booty, his life and his destiny as patrician of a seaside Mexican village.  But what he doesn't know is that there are others after the same buried treasure, including the recently paroled prison assassin Danny Kessel. 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Officially, Morty Martinez cleans out the houses of dead people in this highly amusing mystery from Lefty Award–winner Wiprud (Pipsqueak). Actually, as Morty explains in his charming if egotistical voice, he's a feeler who searches for the money that senior citizens tend to stash around their homes. Morty's overjoyed to find $800,000 on one job in Brooklyn, until the discovery attracts the covetous attention of other feelers and a greedy ex-cop who believes the cash is part of the hidden loot from an armored car heist. Meanwhile, one of the armored car robbers comes looking for the money after being released from prison, where he became a hair-trigger killer with an ice pick. Challenged to stay alive while hanging onto his prize, Morty prepares for a luxurious retirement in Mexico, where he looks forward to a new career as a Latin lover. That readers know Morty survives his various travails doesn't lessen the suspense as he faces one catastrophe after another. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Morty Martinez is a “feeler”; he empties homes in Brooklyn for resale and hopes to find stashes of cash left by deceased occupants who didn’t trust banks. He also lives in hope that a big find will allow him to assume “his birthright,” a hacienda in Baja California befitting his conquistador ancestry. When a job presents him with an $840,000 windfall, he quickly learns that a recently released Sing Sing prisoner, a retired cop, a devious and clever hairdresser, and a rival feeler are all after the same score. Actually, it’s more complicated than that, and Wiprud uses a lengthy letter Morty writes to a Mexican priest to tell his story. This epistolary form works well and allows the author to endow Morty with occasional Runyonesque speeches, bring a dozen quirky characters to life, and paint a vivid portrait of life in East Brooklyn. Although the body count rises steadily, this is a rollicking, high-energy tale that recalls Donald Westlake’s comic caper novels. --Thomas Gaughan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312388616
• ISBN-13: 978-0312388614
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,039,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feel Like Reading a Good Book!, April 19, 2009

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Feelers (Hardcover)

Feelers is one of the best books I've read in a while. It's got great characters, and an interesting plot. But what makes it work so well is how the story is told. It's written as a confession to a priest in La Paz, Mexico by a narrator who speaks (writes) in your comic stereotype gangster type way. Not that Morty Martinez is a gangster, it's just the way he talks. What Martinez is, is a simple guy, successful with the women due amongst other things to the way he talks. Morty lives materialistically, a very humble life. His apartment has not much more than a few books on Spanish history, as he is saving all his windfalls for the dream of buying the house of his ancestors in La Paz, Mexico. He doesn't exactly know where it is but currently has real estate agents looking for a dwelling with a unique fountain.

Morty makes his money as a feeler. Basically he buys the rights to a deceased estate's possessions where he can dispose of the furniture and other items in a dwelling however he likes. He has a particular skill of picking up the vibe of when there are tight ones. Tight ones are usually planter nut tins that old people hide their life savings in, usually hidden under a couch. Which is where Morty discovers 32 tight ones which amount to $800 000. Now Morty's dream of moving to Mexico is pretty much secure, all he has to do is wait for the real estate agents to find the house. However he also knows the day workers he hired will have loose tongues and there are those in the industry whose jealousy and friendship will not stretch to ignoring that windfall.

Throw in Danny Kessell a polite young man who just spent 15 years as the sole survivor of five million dollar armed robbery where the loot was never recovered. He is unaware the house where he hid the money has been "felt". Danny will use the skills of ice pick handling he perfected as a prison assassin to get it back, and Morty has a few hurdles if wants to eventually live his dream life in Mexico.

A very good book, I'll definitly check out more of Wiprud's work.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT an interesting storyteller!, June 14, 2009

By 

Catherine Diane "CDI" (CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Feelers (Hardcover)

I read on the average at least 3 books a week and Wiprud's characters stay with me - if you enjoy quirky people, oddball situations, fun AND still believable stories read his books!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars liz f., May 21, 2009

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feelers (Kindle Edition)

as a longtime wiprud fan i expected great antics and witty dialogue. got that and so much more! morty is wiprud's best character so far and the brooklyn setting is skillfully rendered. hilarious *and* soulful.