Very Mercenary [Paperback]

Rayo Casablanca (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2009

Leigh Tiller has just been kidnapped. The beautiful, ineffably cool New York socialite is being held by a group of mentally ill terrorists who've demanded millions in ransom from Leigh's wealthy father. There's just one problem: Kip Tiller doesn't want Leigh back. He wants her dead. And he's hired The Serologist - a psychotic, patchwork-scarred hit man - to make sure it happens. Leigh's unlikely saviour is Laser Mechanic, the coolly brilliant leader of the guerrilla art collective, Strategic Art Defence. Now, Laser, his team of highly trained artists, and Leigh are on their way to Las Vegas, running from The Serologist and the cops...and into a head-on collision with several contract killers - the Gashes, vicious girl bikers, the Black Sultans, adolescent gang-bangers, and the Bisons, a pair of sadistic, meth-addled brothers - looking to make a fast fortune. The outcome will be bloody, brutal, bizarre - and utterly unexpected.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Casablanca's 2008 debut, the urban farce 6 Sick Hipsters, will best appreciate this uneven satire. The high-profile kidnapping of Leigh Tiller, a New York socialite, sets in motion an unusual confluence of events. Tiller's rich father, far from being eager to pay the hefty ransom, actually wants his daughter killed and employs a doctor turned hit man known as the Serologist to do the deed. Meanwhile, the radical artists known as Strategic Art Defense, whose cultural guerrilla warfare aims to foment a national revolution, frustrate the hit man by rescuing Tiller from her captivity in New Jersey and eventually indoctrinating her into their cause. Readers should be prepared for some erratic characterizations. At one point, for example, the Serologist claims the accident that left him with hideous scars changed him into an evil man only to state a few pages later that he's always known he wasn't a good person. (Mar.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books; Original edition (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075822284X
• ISBN-13: 978-0758222848
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,586,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A strange one that I enjoyed a lot - comedy, action, romance, and violence, September 23, 2009

By 

Mrs. Baumann - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Very Mercenary (Paperback)

Plot Summary: Covergirl heiress Leigh Tiller is kidnapped and held for ransom. Her father, Kip Tiller sends his favorite hitman to take out the kidnappers AND his daughter. Meanwhile, a small art guerilla group discovers where Leigh is being held and decides to spring her themselves. Once Leigh is in league with the Strategic Art Defense, they commence on a five day three city exhibition of eye-opening illegal art displays designed by their brilliant leader, Laser. In hot pursuit is a colorful parade of goombas who are busy trying to kill Leigh and each other.

I was so ready for this to crash and burn that I'm kind of in awe that it didn't, and furthermore, it even has a happy ending! What a surprise. For me, this book calls to mind the kind of insane comedy found in movies like Raising Arizona or A Fish Called Wanda. Everyone has a few loose screws, so insanity becomes the standard here and it's just a question of how nuts are they?

The murder and mayhem run freely, like booze at an open bar wedding, and there's no real mystery to solve. This book is more like a fugitive thriller, with the Strategic Art Defense guys barely a step ahead of their numerous foes on a cross-country chase from New York to Las Vegas.

The different sets of goons that Kip Tiller has on speed dial are so outrageous they should package and sell them as action figures. There's the mutilated doctor known as The Serologist, the biker chick from hell with a Dolly Parton rack, the prepubescent gang-bangers known as the Sultans, and the bazooka toting Bison brothers.

The group that runs with Leigh and Laser are a bit hard to pin down individually, although some of the best scenes involve this posse of misfits. I loved it when Cody lists his favorite places to meet women who will get him laid. That's some funny stuff when he's discoursing on how a trendy Target shopper is different from a brawny Costco employee in bed (or on a pallet of Grisham novels).

This was a strange story that entertained me quite well and had everything I'm looking for - comedy, violence, misdirection, romance, and adventure - but the style is distinctly unique. This little fish is swimming far outside the mainstream, but it doesn't care in the slightest.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very..., July 26, 2009

By 

J. Harlan (soCal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Very Mercenary (Paperback)

Very Mercenary is an amusing romp through the culture and subcultures of America. The novel's cast of renegade artists go on a road trip 60's freakout style, seeking to illuminate the unjust nature of consumer-driven economies with bursts of modern PR and an heiress to get them the headlines. It may sound serious, pretentious, but it's not. The plot works because you can't take anyone in the novel too seriously (well, except for The Serologist who's out to kill them all), I mean the main character is named Laser Mechanic, and he's a no-foolin' ninja. dig that.

Very Mercenary has a furious pace, the action is almost non-stop, and it's very enjoyable.

also, Mr. Casablanca deserves credit in showing furries as the criminally deviant sociopaths they really are. I just hope it doesn't land him at the bottom of a fur pile he can't escape from.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Mercenary. Very strange. Very funny., July 23, 2009

By 

Chris Taylor "Chris" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Mercenary (Paperback)

I'm a honest guy. So let me be straight: I didn't buy this. I was given a copy by Mr. Casablanca for the purposes of reviewing. He made no suggestion that I had to be positive in my review. All I had to do was share my opinion on Amazon.com.

This book is fun. Nothing but fun. After digesting a lot of heavy fic and non-fic lately, V. Merc was a change of pace. The style of prose--third person, present tense--threw me off initially, I must admit. Found it a struggle to get into. Once that story got rolling along, though, I was hooked. The concept of an artistic terrorist organisation, a sort of PETA for the visual arts, was hilarious. What they do is so outlandish. 'Interesting' is probably the most appropriate word to describe the plot. This book comes from way left of field. It's playing with some really familiar ideas, stuff you see in movies and on TV every day, but it tackles them in a completely original way. The book isn't totally serious, but it's not what I'd call a comedic work either. This is a book that's hard to classify. Once I got started with V Merc, I just powered through it. I hope we get to see some of these characters, particularly the hit man, again in Casablanca's future works. Others, though? I'm not so sure. If anything lets this book down, it's the characterisation. A few of the characters are genuinely intriguing--the 'hero', the heiress, the hit man--while others are ... I don't know, some I just didn't care about. Casablanca didn't give us enough to care if and when they suffered or triumphed. They were extras and nothing more. Still, though, plenty of established writers have that problem. Mr. Casablanca, on the other hand, is an emerging writer. A new voice. This is his second novel. I see big, big, big things coming from this guy. No doubt about it. I think the formula--a silly thrill ride packed with action and kooky characters and plenty of nods to mass media--is a winner. Definitely going to pick up his first work, 6 Sick Hipsters, now.