Customer Reviews

Tailed (Wheeler Softcover)

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4 star:		(1)
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TAILED continues the adventures of taxidermist Garth Carson, only this time he has a briefcase and a "real" job. He's putting his experience to good use, he's appraising taxidermy collections for an insurance company. But before you know it, bodies start piling up and Garth becomes a person of interest - never a good thing. Another terrific, fast paced & funny caper from Wiprud.

Just a comment about the "review" by John Sederquist - I find it very odd that the only "reviews" Mr. Sederquist has left on Amazon.com are on three of Wiprud's books, and they are not reviews by any stretch of the imagination. He obviously doesn't read the books, but he does leave a nasty one liner. Obviously there is some sort of personal vendetta going on here and I'm not sure why Amazon allows this sort of thing to continue book after book.

Brian Wiprud's new novel is number 3 in the Garth Carson trilogy. This installment finds Garth trying to go straight ... sort of. He's delegated the running of his taxidermy rental business to his Russian sidekick Otto and taken a well paid job for an insurance company as an appraiser of high end taxidermy.

Trouble has a way of finding Garth and time around is no exception - bad things start happening to his customers and before you know it Garth is caught up in a three way intrigue between the FBI, the U.S. Air Force, and a bizarre group of cultists who have a made the white gecko an object of almost religious devotion.

Weird enough for you? Just wait until the masked Mexican wrestlers make their entrance. This is fun stuff, a perfect mixture of crime and comedy expertly blended with memorable characters.

This is great summer reading. Put a copy of "Tailed" in your suitcase when you leave for vacation. Better yet, take along the earlier books in the series, "Pipsqueak" and "Stuffed," as well. You'll be travelling in good company.

Garth Carson has done something totally unexpected, but extremely sensible. He's taken a job working as a taxidermy appraiser. He has his helper, Otto, run the taxidermy business in New York City. Garth travels the country, doing appraisals and learning a lot about the collector mentality. His love, Angie is working to make her jewelry business take off in a big way, so things are really looking up.

And just when life is looking like a bed of roses, an aphid shows up. Garth is in Chicago for an appraisal of a collection belonging to a Bear, of the gridiron variety. When Garth gets to the estate, he finds the body of Sprunty G. Fulmore, who appears to have been clawed to death by his own stuffed bear. To make matters worse, that death makes the authorities take a look at another collector's death that was taken to be an accident. In Texas, another collector was killed by a falling stuffed critter. Since both victims had a white Gecko on their bodies, it seems there is a serial killer at large.

Garth is asked to go to Seattle to meet with the FBI, and while there another collector bites the dust. Now Garth is thinking he's being set up, and is not happy about this. He enlists the aid of his brother, Nicholas and takes it on the lam, right after a visit to his mom, Gabby at the nudist colony where she has lived for many years. He meets up with assorted groups of people who may or may not be what they seem.

The action culminates in a scene in New Mexico, which has a Roswellian theme, and as much action as you could wish for. Garth and company make sense of a world that seems to have imbibed way to much wacky baccy. Garth keeps his cool, even learning on the spot to drive an assault vehicle. Garth has been through a lot over the past few years, and while I don't wish bad things to happen to anyone, Garth breezes through one catastrophe after another with such ease that I am always anxious to see what is in store for him in the future.
Though I do agree with him that seeing his aging mother au natural may be asking too much of this most coolest of dudes. Highly recommended series.

Garth Carson decides that being a CROOKED collector is to dangerous for a PIPSQUEAK like him; so to avoid being STUFFED and SLEEP WITH FISHES, he accepts a job as an insurance appraiser for Wilberforce/Peete looking at taxidermy collections across the country while his able gnomish Russian goofball assistant Otto runs the Jersey store Carson's Critters.

However, although he insists his danger days are over as the American economy runs on lawsuits and insurance, only Garth starting in Chicago could find his company's clients murdered after a visit from him. The FBI assumes he is a taxidermist serial killer. The Feds and the real murderer chase Garth across the country with the law wanting to arrest him for the murders; while the killer wanting to add him to the collection. Garth accompanied by his girlfriend Angie, who knew not let him out on his own, and Otto begin a quest to prove the PIPSQUEAK is innocent even as his enemies and new foes like the archeologist claiming Carson's mother turned him into a werewolf and another government agency TAILED him. Alas all is right in the life of Garth Carson with an arrest imminent if he should live so long.

The previous Carson capers were wild amusing rides, but TAILED is the zaniest yet as everything that could happen to Garth seems to have occurred since he began his new career. The story line is humorous and somewhat out of control as Carson bounces from one incident to another with each new event adding to his troubles. Fans of the series will appreciate this jocular on the lam tale (is there any other type when it comes to this antihero?) while newcomers who appreciate funny somewhat slapstick adventures will join the fray; if your preference is serious thrillers this is a pass.

Harriet Klausner

This is the first of the series that I have read, however, I will be going back for more - I normally like to start a series at the beginning, but I don't think it mattered with this book. Think Hiaasen - except on speed. Starting with Garth's "profession", moving through a series of murders, aliens, , UFOs, Mexican wrestling, FBI, USAF, puppy anxiety, a nudist mother and other dysfunctional family elements. It never ends and I can't imagine cramming anything more into it!

Garth Carson owns "Carson's Critters". Otto, his Russian friend, takes care of the shop. So Garth now travels around appraising taxidermy collections for an insurance company. Garth's boss (A.K.A. his handler) is Stella Lombardo. Garth's latest appraisal job for Stella is with Titan Harris III. But when Garth finds Harris dead in his home - apparently mauled to death by his own stuffed bear - Garth knows instantly that his life is about to get weird all over again.

Garth is soon on the run from the FBI, the Air Force, and an ancient cult order. To make things stranger still, his nudist mother, Gabby, and his brother, Nicholas, join the adventure. Gabby seems to even know some of the odd characters that recently entered Garth's life. Gabby can explain all about the crackpot Fowler, who believes himself to be a werewolf, the Order of the White Geckos, as well as about the Vuka spirit everyone believes resides within Garth's body.

Just an average week for Garth ...

***** After reading all of Brian Wiprud's previous novels, you would think that I would be ready for anything and that nothing could possibly surprise me within the pages of this book. You would also be wrong. Just when I think that I have seen everything, the author shows me, quite vividly at times, that I have not. This time around the author combines all the characters from previous titles into one hilarious adventure. Do not worry. You do not have to read a single previous title in order to thoroughly enjoy this mystery/comic tale of woe. Trust me, I have read everything published by this author and I have yet to figure out if Brian Wiprud is a genius or one sick puppy. (I'm leaning toward the latter.) A delightful way to spend an afternoon! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This author is a nut! His books are funny Zany and full of mis adventure.
It is a "what a long strange trip this has been" book.
Pass the munchies!

I always have a blast reading the adventures of Wiprud's Garth & Angie, not to mention the hilarious Otto. This book was a welcome addition, and best of all, it included Garth's brother Nick (protagonist of CROOKED) in a combo deal.

There's high jinks, road adventures, a show-stopping culture clash exchange in a truck stop shower, flying saucers, Mexican wrestlers, nudists and killer taxidermy (?) in this hilarious read, and some well-written brotherly and otherwise love scenes. Nonstop action, hilarious observations, wisecracking galore, go read it. NOW.

After a two-year hiatus from trouble and murder, Garth Carson has recently expanded his taxidermy business, Carson's Critters, to include appraising taxidermy collections for a large insurance company. Arriving at a meeting with his new Chicago Bears client, Garth finds him dead on the floor from an apparent bear mauling, with a gecko hanging from his mouth. When two more of Garth's clients turn up dead with animal trophies as the murder weapons, he finds himself a "person of interest" to the FBI.
Circumstantial evidence starts piling up against Garth with references to his grandfather. Garth contacts his estranged hippy mother at a nudist colony and delves into his family's secret past. Unable to make sense of his mother's selective memories, Garth finds the FBI and several unknown people after him. On the run with his soul mate Angie and a crazy Russian friend, Otto, Garth flees through the Midwest trying to find answers to the bizarre happenings around him. These misfits blindly fall from one disaster into another as they try to piece together the clues.
Winning rave reviews on his taxidermist comedy murder capers, Brian M. Wiprud continues the tradition with TAILED. Filled with kooky characters running amok and absurd situations, readers will love this crazy, funny mystery.

Suan Wilson