Stuff Dreams Are Made Of [Paperback]

Don Bruns (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2009

While their last venture was hardly crowned with success, James Lessor and Skip Moore, (and their white box truck) are back. When Reverend Preston Cashdollar and his traveling tent revival come to town, James and Skip reinvent themselves--as holy rollers. But these two aren't seeking salvation; they're seeking the Almighty dollar. After all, Cashdollar's prosperity gospel draws thousands of people with open minds-and open wallets. With a few modifications to the truck, Less or Moore Catering is ready to roll, and the entrepreneurs are born again, intent on making a mint by selling meager meals to the hungry masses. Cashdollar may preach about seeing the light, but his organization has a dark side of greed, corruption and murder. What in the name of all that is holy have James and Skip gotten themselves into? This meals-on-wheels venture is more like hell on wheels.As James and Skip seek the truth, they'll learn that the stuff dreams are made of may be their worst nightmare. They'll either need to keep the faith or run like the devil.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Bruns's talky second mystery to feature best friends Skip Moore and James Lessor (after 2007's Stuff to Die For), the pair decide to make a buck by serving food to the attendees of a tent revival at Oleta River Park near Miami, Fla., led by charismatic Rev. Preston Cashdollar. Once on the job, Skip and James realize certain people associated with Cashdollar have met untimely ends. Particularly disturbing are two unsolved murders—that of Cabrina Washington, an African-American teen rumored to have had an affair with the married minister, and that of Fred Long, a conservative U.S. senator from North Dakota who angered Cashdollar. After Barry Romans, a right-wing talk-show host critical of Cashdollar, is shot, Skip and James turn amateur sleuths. Likable protagonists compensate in part for the thin, improbable plot. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Skip and James are proud graduates of Sam and Dave University. To no one’s surprise but their own, they end up with dead-end jobs as a cook and a seller of security systems. In order to pay off their huge student-loan debt, they convert James’ pride and joy, a cube truck he bought with a $12,000 windfall, into a lunch wagon. In their last adventure (Stuff to Die For, 2007), they had hoped to strike it rich in the hauling business, but ultimately they were happy to escape with their lives from a gang of Cuban outlaws in Miami’s Little Havana. This time their attempt to sell burgers at Reverend Cashdollar’s revival at a park fronting the Intracoastal Highway costs them thousands in after-hours poker games and burglaries from their peers, the motliest bunch of carnies to appear in a narrative since the 1930s movie Freaks. A murderer is lurking in the group, and James smokes out the bad guy by drinking him under the table. Bruns maintains a narrative tone that would have done Huck Finn proud in this combination Andy Hardy adventure and hard-boiled thriller. --Steve Glassman --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oceanview Publishing (November 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933515678
• ISBN-13: 978-1933515670
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Bruns is a novelist, advertising executive, musician, songwriter, cook and painter who has no idea what he wants to do when he grows up. He's the author of nine books and was editor of the mystery/music anthology A Merry Band Of Murderers.

Don's published novels cover two series. One, a Caribbean thriller collection and two, the Stuff series, a humorous look at two twenty-four year old guys in South Florida who start their own detective agency and end up neck - deep in trouble. Skip and James from the Stuff series have often been compared to grown up versions of the Hardy Boys.

Jamaica Blue, Barbados Heat, South Beach Shakedown, St. Barts Breakdown and Bahama Burnout make up the Caribbean books. The Stuff series consists of Stuff To Die For, Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, Stuff To Spy For, and Don't Sweat The Small Stuff- which came out in December 2010. Bruns is currently working on the fifth Stuff book, Too Much Stuff.

His two series have won numerous awards, and the latest "Stuff" series has won a starred review in Booklist.

"Will remind the reader of Tim Dorsey's cast of whacked-out characters but with the narrative voice and feel of Mark Twain's Huck Finn."

Traveling the Caribbean for his Mick Sever series, or hovering around Miami for his "Stuff" series, Bruns enjoys the writing life. You can find him at http://www.donbrunsbooks.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most fun detective team gives you laughs and solves crimes, November 5, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stuff Dreams Are Made Of (Hardcover)

James Lessor and Skip Moore are back and they are well, not bigger than ever, and definitely not smarter than ever. They're just back in this hilarious satirical mystery Stuff Dreams Are Made Of. The second installment in Don Bruns' Moore or Less series, the dynamic duo try their luck at catering. They bring their large white truck to the revival of Rev. Preston Cashdollar (yes that's his name), and think they will make a few bucks. Instead, they get involved with the murder of a senator, a suspicious group of full timers,(see note below) and a long-ago mystery that Skip has a personal tie to.

Stuff Dreams Are Made Of is a funny and winning book filled with great lines, mostly provided Skip's sardonic narration. On the unfortunate name of their company, Moore or Less Catering, Skip remarks "It was James' idea not mine. His name is Lessor, mine is Moore so he thought it would be clever to...well it was his idea!"

The two make a unique detective team, more like Abbot and Costello than Holmes and Watson, as they stumble upon body after body-and angry people with guns. They usually don't find out anything unless it's in front of them, instead they spend most of the book trying to stay alive. Nevertheless, they make a great team with very interesting idiosyncrasies. Everything from James' constant quoting of movie lines, to their endless need for money is explored, making them a very fun identifiable duo.

The mystery plot is really solid and plays on the idea of revivals and religious types who use peoples' faith to get money. An interesting scene has the originally skeptical duo attend the meeting and are so swayed by Cashdollar's words that they end up donating money. Cashdollar and his cronies are a very suspicious bunch, more like mob hit men than Holy Rollers. The mystery itself is very tight with a slightly obvious ending, but nonetheless the whole book plays on religious satire and mocks the idea of revivals and people who look for something beyond themselves to believe in.

NOTE: Full-timers were people who worked for Cashdollar's revivals by serving food or souveniers full time and were on call whenever he needed them. They were sort of his Brute Squad because they intimidated many of the newcomers like James and Skip and their friend, Daron Styles who worked at Cashdollar's revival before.

Armchair Interviews says: Unique characters and situation makes for a very fun read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Over-Talky, March 30, 2010

By 

Frederick S. Dawson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stuff Dreams Are Made Of (Paperback)

I could accept a couple of idiots as comic detectives. What gives me problems is how much time these two spend talking about what they're going to do, or too often not do, like call the cops. Then another good guy or Skip's girlfriend arrives and they repeat what they said. If this were as witty as other reviewers have found, that might work, but it's not. Plus the mystery is far from profound or surprising in its revelation. This might have worked as an episode on some TV show like The Dukes of Hazzard but not here.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery made fun, January 30, 2012

By 

S. Amero "S.A." (Old Town, ME United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stuff Dreams Are Made Of (Hardcover)

Really enjoy this series. Skip and James are so much fun and remind me somewhat of the "Psych" tv show as far as their relationship, although they are more "Slacker types" than the tv show.

The mysteries are fun and light hearted. Great beach read...