Mine All Mine [Paperback]

Adam Davies (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

A dazzling comic and romantic heist story from the author of The Frog King and Goodbye Lemon.

Otto Starks is a "pulse"?a highly specialized security guard who has hyperdeveloped senses and a nervous habit of popping tabs of cyanide. Otto was once a rising star but then he was rolled three times by the notorious Rat Burglar. Now, demoted and dangerously in debt to a loan shark, all he has left is Charlie Izzo, the woman he loves. Unfortunately, she is also the Rat Burglar?s zealous advocate. That?s bad enough. But then Otto gets robbed yet again and the cops pronounce him the prime suspect. When Charlie disappears and Otto becomes a fugitive, he realizes that the Rat Burglar has stolen much more from him than art. And to get it back he must break the law he has devoted his life to upholding. A nail-biting thriller about deception, betrayal, and ownership?in art and in love?Mine All Mine is also a quirky and hilarious romantic comedy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The third novel from Davies (Goodbye Lemon; The Frog King) is a hilarious caper narrated by down-on-his-luck good guy Otto Starks. Having worked his entire life to become a top-notch pulse (highly specialized security guard), Otto falls from grace when several of the works of art under his watch are stolen by the Rat Burglar. Otto, who pops toxic pills in an effort to build immunity to paralyzing and lethal substances, starts to look like an accomplice when he repeatedly fails to apprehend the thief. Also grinding at Otto is his torment at keeping his job a secret from Charlie Izzo, the woman he loves but is too afraid to propose to. Charlie is as smart as she is beautiful, but to Otto's dismay, she praises the Rat Burglar, whose m.o. is to steal back plundered masterpieces and return them to their original owners. After the Rat Burglar steals a secret map to a massive plundered treasure, Otto's compartmentalized worlds collide. Otto's narration is biting and bitter, but also charming. Parts are laugh-out-loud funny, and there's enough suspense to keep readers riveted throughout this svelte page-turner. (Aug.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Know why Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible trapeze act wouldn’t work in real life? Because a hyperspecialized security guard—a “pulse”—would have already been inside the vault, patiently waiting to push the panic button. At least, that’s the premise of Davies’ fantastically imagined novel, set in a world where people with things to protect don’t rely on technology that can be subverted by airshaft egress or clipped green wires. Otto Starks is a pulse whose ability is off the charts but whose recent track record has him heading toward termination. Why does the Rat Burglar keep getting the drop on him? And why can’t he pop the question to Charlie Izzo, the love of his life? And what will happen if he can’t make the loan-shark payments on his boat, the Clean Getaway? In a novel that is equal parts comic monologue, screwball romance, and crime story, Davies employs clichéd suspense devices with results that are wholly original. If we’re mildly impatient when the plot mechanics take over, that’s only because we can’t get enough of Davies’ wonderful word-nerd writing, which scarcely needs a raison d’être. Our own words can’t do this cartoonish but touching novel justice—you’ll have to read it for yourself. --Keir Graff

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 289 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; 1 edition (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594483140
• ISBN-13: 978-1594483141
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,257,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, fun read....., February 7, 2009

By 

BJ "Brett Starr" (East Peoria, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mine All Mine (Paperback)

Good, not great comedy / action / love story novel!

"Mine All Mine" starts out as a smart comedy, then turns into a full blown action novel throughout the second half of the book.

This book is not a mystery, look at the front cover, read about 10 pages into the book and you will already know who the "Rat Burglar" is. If your looking for a classic, hard to figure out "who done it", this definitely isn't it! But I get the feeling Adam Davies did that purposely, the point is to enjoy the story itself.

Alot of great characters, with great names: The Rat Burglar, Jimmy the Hat, Kong, Azar, Po-Mo, Frankie Nichols & Jagjeet Singh

The main character Otto Starks is great! Alot of very current references and themes. There are many laughs in this book and I never really came across any part of the book that I thought was boring.

Other reviews mention Adam Davies tendency to use alot of words no one has ever heard of, that is true. You could keep a dictionary handy if you like looking up words you dont know, but there are so, so many in this book, you may never finish the novel. Ex. - alacrity, maenadic, stentorian, indurate, ataraxia

Good smart & funny book, a great change of pace book, if you read alot of one genre books!

"Mine All Mine" would make a great movie~

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great story, great narration, great characters, August 19, 2008

By 

Geof Arwood "mulehead" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mine All Mine (Paperback)

I never heard of this author before, but decided to pick this up because it sounded interesting. I was right. It is an intriging story with great narration by the main charater, Otto Starks. The language is very cool and his voice sucks you into the story. I would recommend this book for all fans of crime novels, especially fans of Elmore Leonard or Carl Haaisen. Lots of fun, you will not regret reading this wonderful novel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Boring, January 12, 2010

By 

Sara Allen "Sara" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mine All Mine (Paperback)

The author is my former professor. I am certainly biased. The author used to torture me as a student so of course I read his book. It was the only fair thing to do since he suffered through my papers. One stray grammatical error and this review is all over. It pains me to say the author knows exactly what he is doing.

I read his book in one day. Mine all Mine is very funny. It is the perfect book to take on a flight or to the beach. Otto Starks is a believable hero for a novel because his childhood pain drives him to become a security guard. He has plenty of protective instincts. They just never seem to work as Otto is hopelessly bad at his job.

I related to the main character's desire to achieve something only to find his own life unraveling. The ending is unrealistic unless you believe people really do earn, or deserve a second chance. In real life things would never work out for the main character and he'd be at home on Saturday night keeping a blog.

I hope the author keeps writing. His writing style is not something anyone else on this planet has for one reason. His style is never boring.