6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a find! I stumbled upon this little gem..., August 15, 2001
On the strength of author, Lee Child's blurb, I picked up this book this summer and boy, am I glad that I did! This is a hilarious, original debut from Brian M. Wiprud.
I began reading in a ice hockey rink and was immediately pulled in to the fast-paced, quirky, and funny story. Soon after, I was laughing out loud and receiving the odd side glance from other hockey moms and dads! I did not leave the rink until I had finished.
I anxiously await more from Sid Bilfulco and the gang. I do hope Mr. Wiprud is living healthily, exercising, eating well and maintaining regular well-checks...I cannot wait for the next installment. Or does he have more fresh, original characters and stories waiting to be published?
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Like eating chili with your hands..., May 23, 2007
This review is from: Sleep with the Fishes (Mass Market Paperback)
...it still tastes good, but man, is it sloppy.
I'd never heard of Brian Wiprud before finding this book, which I happened to discover while on a shopping kick for obscure writers and titles. So I thought, "What the hay? It's short (under 240 pages), so if it blows I wouldn't have wasted that much of my time."
The result? A fun story but a messy novel.
If ever the cliché, "a bad writer but a great storyteller" applied to a writer or his work, it's Brian Wiprud and SLEEP WITH THE FISHES. The writing is atrocious. Wiprud writes his dialogue phonetically, with a lot of "ya," "siddown," "shaddup," and "c'meres," just to name a few. It's annoying and distracting, making nearly every character sound alike. His narrative can be pretty weak, leaving me to wonder who was saying or doing what to whom at any given point. Confusing. And to add insult to injury, at the top of page 150 a character's eyes are described as blue. At the bottom of the same page, they're brown. You literally need a bib to read this book, it's that messy.
If you have the patience to read past all that, however, you'll discover a very clever and amusing plot. Much more a "caper" in the vein of Elmore Leonard than a mystery, it introduces the reader to a cast of eccentric characters who all get tangled up in the same giant mess. The resulting hijinx are hilarious, and they had me laughing out loud many times. The ending isn't quite as fulfilling as I'd like, but I read on Wiprud's website that he's penned a sequel to FISHES entitled DIRT NAP. This picks up where FISHES left off, including the dangling, unsatisfying conclusion (DIRT NAP has yet to be published, however).
Overall, though, I'd recommend SLEEP WITH THE FISHES for those of you who enjoy breezy, clever stories with a liberal dose of humor thrown in. But be warned: If you hate bad writing, you'd be better off seeking out Victor Gischler or Elmore Leonard.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Full of irony and humor! I loved it!, August 6, 2001
Sid Bifulco had been a hit-man for the Palfuttis mob family. He turned all he knew in to the police for amnesty. Instead of Witness Protection, he served his short term and then retired to the Delaware Valley. His next eggs kept him from poverty and let Sid indulge in the hobby he took up during prison, fishing!
Russ was Sid's next door neighbor. While he and some friends were driving out to Sid's house (intoxicated) Russ hit and killed Johnny Fest, who had been en route to murder Sid for revenge. Sid made the body disappear, but a camcorder that Bob had been using had been left on and Johnny's death had been video taped.
I refuse to tell how, but through some creative writing the author had the tape end up with a trooper that Johnny had recently shot. The trooper was out for some reward money and began hunting Sid and Russ. Then there are the locals at the diner who love making skin-flicks and kept getting involved, unknowingly, with the tape of Johnny. And let us not forget Warden Lachfurst who was coming by Sid's to relax and fish!
***** All-in-all, I found this to be one of the most warped, fascinating, and enjoyable reads this year! Full of irony and humor, readers will not want to put this book down until the last page has been turned! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch
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