Pipsqueak [Paperback]

Brian M. Wiprud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

Tuning forks, thugs in plaid cummerbunds, digital TV, a dead biker, a stuffed loon and an old cartoon show? What's all this got to do with a ratty old squirrel puppet? That's the Pipsqueak story, featuring Garth Carson, a New York City taxidermy collector, and his gal Angie. After a murderous melee in an obscure antique store, the puppet goes missing and they find themselves entangled in a deadly swing band conspiracy and Soviet-era secrets. "...the wildest mystery to come down the pike in a stuffed squirrel's age." --Publishers Weekly "The flat-out coolest mystery I've read in years, not to mention the funniest. Brian Wiprud is either a genius or a lunatic. Or maybe both." --Steve Hamilton, Edgar Award-winning author of North of Nowhere and the Alex McKnight series "Splendidly kooky with a sharp dressing, sharp-witted characters woven into a wicked conspiracy theory." --Chris Niles, author of Hell's Kitchen "The Nick and Nora of taxidermy meet the Maltese Falcon--er--Squirrel in another crazy, funny mystery by Brian M. Wiprud." --Sparkle Hayter, author of The Last Manly Man "'Zany,' 'madcap,' and 'romp' must have been invented specifically for Wiprud's smart and funny Pipsqueak. A lunatic, super-fast mystery." --Lauren Henderson, tarty author of Chained and Pretty Boy in the Sam Jones series.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New York taxidermy collector Garth Carson has just set a covetous eye on Pipsqueak the Nutty Nut squirrel, star of an old kiddies' cartoon show, mounted in a glass case in a north Jersey antiques shop, when a gun battle between a biker and the shop's apparent owner has him ducking for cover in Pipsqueak, Brian M. Wiprud's uproarious second mystery after last year's Sleep with the Fishes. Supported by blurbs from Harlan Coben, Steve Hamilton, Sparkle Hayter and other established pros, this is the wildest mystery to come down the pike in a stuffed squirrel's age.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The wildest mystery to come down the pike in a stuffed squirrel's age."
-- Publishers Weekly (Publisher's Weekly ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Writers Club Press; First Edition edition (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595227279
• ISBN-13: 978-0595227273
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,849,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Pipsqueak - This is a muscular adventure!, August 19, 2002

By 

David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pipsqueak (Paperback)

Garth Carson is an ordinary guy with an unordinary interest in dead animals (he bills himself as a "Renter, Procurer, Broker and Vendor of Taxidermy"). He's minding his own business while hunting an "antiques" shop one day when he spots the Maltese Falcon of stuffed animals: Pipsqueak the Nutty Nut. This puppet made from a real squirrel's skin was a prominent fixture on the young Garth's favorite low-budget local television program: The General Buster Show.

Summarizing the story is no small task, as it is a complicated one, involving zoot suiters, tuning forks, swing dancers, mind control, and a whole host of bizarre miscellanea. If at times a bit over-complicated, the plot doesn't matter that much anyway. The Pipsqueak puppet is only a MacGuffin, a largely meaningless device to further the story, not to matter in and of itself. The real meat of the book is the quirky characters and their interplay, along with the protagonist's wry observations on life.

It's hard to imagine anyone whose work Wiprud's is similar to. His twisted sense of humor and fascination for odd minutiae are fairly unique. Admirers of Donald Westlake and Elmore Leonard, especially, though, will find much here to enjoy. Wiprud is definitely a writer to watch.

Reviewed by David Montgomer, Mystery Ink

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful! Entertaining and memorable!, June 28, 2002

By 

phillip tomasso III (rochester, new york United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pipsqueak (Paperback)

Pipsqueak is a fast-paced, humorous and highly entertaining mystery novel. Brian M. Wiprud?s writing is parallel to that of Carl Hiaasen or Gregory McDonald. Quirky and unique, this cleverly plotted story is both engaging and memorable.

Garth Carson is a taxidermist. Driving by a small roadside shop, a window display catches eye. Stopping, he expects to purchase one thing, but winds up locating a personal treasure from his youth, Pipsqueak the puppet. Pipsqueak is a squirrel from a local, once popular, television show. Aside from Garth?s own sentimental attachment, the relic is worthless. However, when he offers to buy the piece, the clerk tells him no. The place is about to be robbed while Garth is using the stores facilities. The thief wants Pipsqueak. The clerk kills the would-be robber and flees the scene with the puppet, leaving Garth in hiding in back.

Surprisingly enough, after fifteen years of never seeing each other, Garth?s brother, Nicholas, shows up in town. Nicholas is working as a Private Investigator. In a roundabout way, he, too, is looking for Pipsqueak. It is almost a race as Nicholas and Mafia-like crooks battle desperately and ruthlessly against each other, one looking for answers ? the others looking to stop him from getting answers.

As people keep turning up dead, Garth finds himself caught up in the middle of it all. Attorneys, police, bad guys, good guys ? questionable people who might or might not be guys ?

Pipsqueak is the story of a marvelously ingenious conspiracy theory and a dangerously action-packed page-turner. Full of whit, real-life dialogue and a new perspective on dangerous cults ? Brian M. Wiprud knows how to churn out a novel that any mystery reader will undoubtedly enjoy!
--Phillip Tomasso III, author of Johnny Blade and Third Ring

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pipsqueak, October 14, 2002

By 

Lorna Hunt Ellison (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pipsqueak (Paperback)

Brian M. Wiprud has fast become one of my favorite writers!
This author is hilarious - in much the same way I find books by Donald Westlake and Bill Fitzhugh over-the-top-laugh-out-loud funny. Why the hell aren't more people reading this guy?!

I had wondered how he'd top Sleep with the Fishes (had hoped for a sequel, straightaway, but I 'll have to wait 'til 2003 for Dirt Nap, the next installment in the Sid Bilfulco tales), but I had to be be content with Pipsqueak this zany, smart comic caper.

No way will I listen to Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Lights without a smile remembering this funny book.

Read this book!