Customer Reviews

Feelers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Morty Martinez is a specialized house cleaner; after someone dies, he cleans their house. However, he makes more money as a "feeler" searching for the hidden cache of loot senior citizens leave behind.

In Brooklyn, Morty is euphoric to find $800,000 lying around while he cleaned the house. However, his find comes to the attention of his peers who want more than just a cut; the information also reaches an angry former cop who believes the loot in Brooklyn belongs to him as he believes it is part of an armored car robbery. Finally, one of the thieves who has just left prison having gained the useful skill of an ice pick killer and he wants his money; Morty better give it to him or risk a flash temper stabbing. Everyone targets Morty who thinks he can become the gringo lover of Mexican senoritas if he can escape from New York in one piece.

This is an enjoyable suspense thriller mindful of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as everyone seemingly in the Big Apple wants a bite out of the anti-hero's butt. The story line is fast-paced once Morty finds the loot and even faster is the underground gossip network. Brian M. Wiprud provides the audience with a terrific tale in which Morty may be dreaming of senoritas, but he can't safely get to New Jersey.

Harriet Klausner

A well deserved starred review from Publishers Weekly prompted me to read this book and I was not disappointed. Although the faced paced twists and turns of the plot are fun and often unexpected, the best feature of this book is how the main character is developed. I fell in love with Morty's voice, which narrates the book with charm, wisdom and a moderately glorified sense of self, all of which make for a sympathetic, funny, lovable character. He is at once a bumbling romantic and a smart businessman and ingenious at saving his own skin. Enter Danny Kessel, a polite but lethal hit man in search of the money that Morty has found. Throw in a colorful cast of characters that also want a piece of the loot and this book is a hell of a good read.

Wiprud hits the jackpot with this entertaining and wacky caper. With spot-on settings (New Yorkers will laugh more than once in recognition); believable, smart characters and an engaging plot, readers will not be disappointed. Give this one a try!

Wiprud creates a charming and memorable character in Morty, a "feeler" who wants nothing more than the love of a good woman and to buy his family's ancestral home in Mexico. After he finds a small fortune and it looks like his dreams are about to come true, Morty goes on a hilarious, danger-fraught journey through the seedier corners of Brooklyn as he tries to evade a dangerous ex-con who's also after the money. Loved this one!

I have read a couple of Brian Wiprud's books and enjoyed them, but Feeler's in a cut above the others I've read. The book reads like a script to a great independent black comedy film and is highly recommended. I've posted more of my thoughts here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1629992/a_review_of_feelers_by_brian_m_wiprud.html?cat=38

Loved this book! From page one you are grabbed in to a twisting and turning plot with surprises around every corner. This is a mystery with intriguing characters and a great story line. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. My favorite Brian Wiprud book.....so far.

"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."
-- Publisher's Weekly *STARRED REVIEW*

"A guy who cleans out dead people's houses turns up $800,000 worth of trouble. Those in the know call Morty Martinez one of the best feelers in Brooklyn. He has a nose for which houses are most likely to conceal unsuspected valuables that his home content removal service can then vacuum into his savings account. It's all perfectly legal, but that's not much reassurance to Morty when he finds a flock of coffee cans packed with U.S. currency while he's cleaning out the Trux home on Vanderhoosen Drive. No sooner has Morty squirreled the cash away in a self-storage locker than he's besieged by competitors who'd like the money even more than he would. There's professional rival Pete the Prick and his enforcers, the fearsome Balkan Boys. There's mannerly Danny Kessel, who after 15 years in prison for his role in an armored car heist kills a man with an icepick his first day out. There's retired Brooklyn cop Charlie Binder, who's had an eye cocked for the $5 million snatched from that armored car ever since Danny went down. Morty's also besieged by a shapely hairdresser named Fanny, but she may just be after his body--which is what he's going to end up as if he doesn't find some way to distract his pursuers, for instance by getting them to pursue each other instead of him. Wiprud (Tailed, 2007, etc.) switches his point of view so often and suddenly that you'll risk whiplash. But you'll gasp with laughter and surprise all the way to the hospital."
-- Kirkus Reviews

"Although the body count rises steadily, this is a rollicking, high-energy tale that recalls Donald Westlake's comic caper novels."
-- Thomas Gaughan, Booklist

Top Pick
An epistolary novel can be slow moving and boring, but those would be the last words to describe Wiprud's book. The action never stops, and laugh-out-loud-funny scenes combine with a sympathetic hero who's a blind romantic like his late father. Secondary characters are vividly drawn, as is the Brooklyn that is Wiprud's setting. "Brilliant" and "funny" are the only words to describe this.--- Page Traynor, Romantic Times Magazine

"This is not only humorous and hard-boiled but thrilling and full throttle as well. Wiprud and the brilliant characters he has created are welcome on my bookshelf at any time."
-- Crooked Magazine