Honk Honk, My Darling: A Rex Koko, Private Clown Mystery [Kindle Edition]

James Finn Garner (Author)

Book Description

From the author of the #1 international best-seller, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories!

In Top Town, a ghetto full of washed-up circus lifers in the shadow of a big city, audiences come every night for cheap thrills, both wholesome and not. Fire eaters perform for gin money. Gypsies reveal the future (and for a sawbuck can make it happen). Daredevils cheat Death time after time, but once. And witness to it all is one of the most loved and notorious figures in Top Town, a tough joey with a deadly past and a nose for picking all the wrong fights: Rex Koko, private clown.

In Honk Honk, My Darling, Rex Koko is hired by an aging, arrogant trapeze star to bring back his wayward wife. Every time he comes close to finding her, however, other aerialists come to gruesome and spectacular ends. To keep from taking the rap himself, Rex needs to find the killer while keeping his own inner demons in check.

Is Addie Carlozo a "black widow"? Is Rex cursed with bad luck? Why is he being followed by those red-headed roustabout bastards, the Redd Brothers? And will "circus justice" intervene before the police do? Revenge, corruption and murder headline the bill in Top Town, where life comes 3 balls for a nickel. Babes, bullets, banana peels! As e.e. cummings said, "Damn everything, but the circus!"

Chicago Writers Association "2011 Book of the Year -- Nontraditional Fiction"!!

Editorial Reviews

Review

Book of the Year (Nontraditional Fiction) 2011, Chicago Writers Association
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"Great book! This is Raymond Chandler meets Barnum & Bailey. It's as entertaining as a car-load of clowns. Or more specifically, a car-load of tough-talking, poker-playing, metaphor-spewing clowns."
-- A.J. Jacobs, My Life as an Experiment

"Wonderful! Like Raymond Chandler before him, Garner explores the seedy underbelly of show business. And it's a world populated by kinkers, joeys, flatties, ginks, bips, midgets and fat ladies."
-- Matt Walsh, Upright Citizens Brigade, "High Life"

About the Author

James Finn Garner's best known book is "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", which spent 64 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller List, including six weeks in the top position. The book was also a best-seller in England and Canada, and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Its sequels, "Once Upon A More Enlightened Time" and "Politically Correct Holiday Stories", were also best sellers sold around the world. His most recent book is the seminal Clown Noir, "Honk Honk, My Darling: A Rex Koko, Private Clown Mystery." His other books include "Recut Madness: Favorite Films Retold for Your Partisan Pleasure" and "Apocalypse WOW: A Memoir for the End of Time".

Product Details

• File Size: 296 KB
• Print Length: 174 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004YFEUCQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,972 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ever wonder what happens after the circus leaves your town? May 29, 2011

By MandoInBlack

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This novel is at the same time out of this world ridiculous and unbelievably real. James Finn Garner does a remarkable job at creating a fanciful world of bearded ladies, burly acrobats and mad clowns, and fitting them into the real world. The titular character is a down and out clown who works as a private eye. While this premise might seem to be good for only a few laughs the author creates a character with depth and vitality, one which many authors struggle to achieve. It is this depth, and the depth of so many of the characters, coupled with the placement of such a unique setting within our own world, that makes this novel shine. Circus aficionados will appreciate Garner's attention to detail; his thorough research and passion for the circus is evident not only in the names of characters and places, but also in their culture. Garner's wit and charm are evident on every page and leave the reader laughing at, and eventually caring for, our unfortunate hero. I for one welcome the birth of the Clown Noir Novel and look forward to a follow up.

Garner is also releasing this book chapter by chapter in a podcast on his website. Check it out, you will be glad you did.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Step Aside, Krusty... June 1, 2011

By Jonathan

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

There's a new clown in town.
James Finn Garner is one of the funniest writers on earth, and this may be his best work yet. Don't be fooled by the ridiculously low price for this ebook. "Honk Honk, My Darling" is no joke, no trifle. The writing is brilliant. The mystery is gripping. And Rex Koko, the clown detective, makes for a thoroughly engaging narrator. I don't read a whole lot of clown noir, but now I have to call myself a fan. I loved this book and I can't wait for the sequel.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny 'clown noir' October 10, 2011

By wistfulskimmie - Wistfulskimmies Book Reviews Blog

Format:Kindle Edition

This is the story of a clown, down on his luck, now working as a detective. He has been tasked with finding the wife of one of the high fliers. Then the bodies start piling up....

This is the first time I have read a 'clown noir' and I hope it will not be the last. I found it to be achingly funny. It reads like a 'gumshoe' novel but set in the fictional town of Top Town which is where all the circus folk live. It reminded me a little bit of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' in its approach. The characters were all larger than life and had fantastic names. The story was well paced, and a great page turner.

If you have never read a book like this you are missing a treat. I urge you to give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Seedy Underbelly of the Circus December 8, 2011

By B. Beard

Format:Kindle Edition

It's tough being a washed-up clown, especially in Top Town, a seedy township mostly populated by circus folk. Rex Koko, a clown with a past of more than a few mistakes, helps make ends meet with the occasional private investigation job. When a trapeze star hires Rex to look into his wife, the clown is soon dragged into a mess that's no laughing matter. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like: clown noir.

With such an unusual premise, the immediate question is can a mystery reader actually take this book seriously? Yes, in fact they can. Bizarre premise aside, the novel does present us with an intelligent and somewhat dogged investigator following the a classic trail of bodies and questionable actions. The strong echo of the past masters of noir is only reinforced, despite the general circus culture background, by the use of an early-40s setting. There's no internet background checks or cell phones around to help out poor Rex. While the fundamental mystery is perhaps not the most impressive or unusual I've ever encountered, it did provide sufficient tension to propel me forward. I also appreciated that though Rex seemed, for the most part, much more intelligent and thoughtful than many around him, he was far from being able to laugh off physical threats.

The true strength of the book though is the intricate attention to the mid-20th century circus culture. While I can't claim to have a detailed knowledge of said culture and thus can't comment on the accuracy of the depiction, the novel establishes a living, breathing and plausibly sleazy little slice of circus Americana complete with political corruption, job-based factions and its own sort of circus-based segregation.... The juxtaposition between the various classic circus archetypes and their very real, and often petty, human nature heightens the dramatic impact of these various characters.

This intense attention to detail extends to language. Both the circus and 40s slang gets thick at times. Admittedly, it takes a bit of adjustment to get used to it at first, but once fully engaged it helps enhance the period atmosphere of the piece.

For a book focused on a clown, one might expect humor. There's definitely a solid wit running throughout though Rex is more a master of deflating people with clever jokes than a pie. There are a few occasions where the book fully embraces its circus and clown nature and passes into an absurdity, depending on taste, a reader may either find sublime or ridiculous. In either event, they certainly aren't boring.

4 Stars

J.A. Beard
My indie, my tea and me Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read January 19, 2012

By Keith Z

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm not a big fiction reader, but have been reading dectective mysteries lately. As someone who likes this genre, comedy and has no phobias about clowns, I found this to be a compelling read. The only thing that slowed me down was stopping to laugh out loud. I soon got the carnie lingo and the characters were very real to me. I'm looking forward to "The Wet Nose Of Danger" the next in the series.

And I paid my own hard earned scratch for the paper version, well worth the 8 smackers!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars New Clown in Town! August 21, 2011

By Jenelle E. Glanz

Format:Kindle Edition

I received this book free in return for my review. What a fun book! I really liked Rex and the story, and I had a hard time putting it down after I started it!
A new mystery writer for me! I'm going to look at his other Rex Koko books!
I highly recommend this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All action, all clowns! July 6, 2011

By Bulbo Bunkins

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Honk, Honk, My Darling is unlike any mystery I've ever read, and I found it witty and charming.

It's wonderful, set in a fantastic world of circus people. Are there really cites that are made up exclusively of clowns and trapeze artists? Do monkeys rent their own apartments? I don't know, but I found Garner's world endlessly engaging. I really cared about the fat ladies and roustabouts that Rex Koko rubs elbows with. "What the hell could possibly happen next?" I constantly asked myself as I read this book.

Garner has an obvious love of the subject matter, and it translates into a rich, detailed setting that is completely believable. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Rex Koko will become one of the enduring characters of American literature. He's annoying, lovable and brilliant all at once.

If you have any interest in clowns, circuses, mysteries, hard-boiled private detectives or guys getting shot out of a cannon, you will love this book.

More About the Author

James Finn Garner's best known book is "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", which spent 64 weeks on the New York Times Best-seller list, including six weeks in the top position. The book was also a best-seller in England and Canada, and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Its sequels, "Once Upon A More Enlightened Time" and "Politically Correct Holiday Stories", were also best sellers sold around the world.

His most recent work is "Tea Party Fairy Tales", which is available exclusively as a Kindle Single from Amazon.

His 2011 novel -- the seminal Clown Noir, "Honk Honk, My Darling: A Rex Koko, Private Clown Mystery" -- was voted Book of the Year (Nontraditional Fiction) by the Chicago Writers Association. His other books include "Recut Madness: Favorite Films Retold for Your Partisan Pleasure" and "Apocalypse WOW: A Memoir for the End of Time".

A former columnist with Chicago Magazine, Garner has broadcast commentaries on National Public Radio.