Customer Reviews

When Pigs Fly

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...pigs can fly. And that's only the beginning! I believe that Diet Cola could kill a guy with one squeeze of the [...]-cheeks, that a fool named Zippy would think it an honor to tattoo his brain on his scalp (too bad that's the only place it appears within 20 feet of the guy's body), that an elderly couple named Carrick and Brodie could love each other more than even a hundred million dollars, and that Ace and Frosty are the dumbest crooks this side of Lowell, Massachusetts. I also believe I'd marry Mack Durgin if I wasn't already happily married and he wasn't in a (chaste) twosome with his dead wife and his maybe-someday girlfriend Calliope Vrattos.

Most of all, I believe that you will bust your ribs laughing and only ask for more. Sequel, please, and fast! (When Cows Jump Over the Moon, perhaps?)

Imagine my surprise when a book about a retired cop showed up under my tree -- me a devout "cozy" reader. At first I was skeptical --"Oh no, not another hard boiled cop story", but it was fun and funny. I laughed out loud at Ace and Frosty, and even sort of fell for Mac, that not-so-hard boiled retired cop. And when the Pig flew...! Hope a sequel is in the works -- this is one cop I want to see again.

Bob Sanchez has created a very humorous tale of mis-adventure, sparkling with unique and believeable characters. I didn't want to come to the end of the book but I was finished all too soon. It is packed with plot twists,humor and a picture of the great Southwest which beckoned me to go for a visit. I recommend this book highly. George Bibler

"When Pigs Fly" is a fast paced, action-oriented quest. Better still it's funny, laugh out loud funny. Chapters toggle between locations--Massachusetts and Arizona-- and characters, keeping the plot racing forward. There is truly never a dull moment. If Sanchez doesn't have a sequel planned based on Mack, retired Lowell, MA cop, he should. Let's hope we meet the pig again.

Few writers can make me laugh out loud. Bob Sanchez is one of them. His characters are hilarious and the story even has a plot. I want to read more from this author.

This is a delicious, rollicking read! It's also a heartwarmer, bringing together two individuals who have a chance of finding love later in life. Before that can happen though, they have to survive the murderous intent of truly unforgettable, hugely inept, and often comical criminals intent on recovering a winning lottery ticket.

Technical writer Bob Sanchez' first novel is a funny, entertaining summer read. The movie images of Raising Arizona, Into the Night, The Whole Nine Yards, and Pulp Fiction are somewhat unmistakable as the author takes the reader on a slam-bang ride through Arizona. Retired cop Mack Durgin and his new feminine acquaintance are being tracked with a GPS unit hidden in the lady's car by an Elvis impersonator who doesn't know when to quit. Neither do the band of colorful characters following Mack who hope to cash in on a lottery ticket originally purchased by Mack's elderly parents. Mack just wants to dump his friend's ashes over The Grand Canyon and develop a lasting relationship with his new lady friend.

As a somewhat established book critic, I can tell you that When Pigs Fly has easily earned four stars, but at least a little of the gushing praise for this book is a bit over the top. I got about forty pages into it before I even cracked a serious smile. There are a few laughs to be had by the antics of some of the sleazy criminals created by Mr. Sanchez, but the book is too short and the storyline could even be called a bit derivative of the movies mentioned. When Pigs Fly is a good, light, imaginative book, but it's no Cat's Cradle.

Although I have offered a bit of criticism of When Pigs Fly, there are, indeed, many things to like about the book. The ringleader of these is Poindexter, the pet javelina pig that wins a ribbon as his loving owner's science project and is subsequently dumped out in the desert to fend for himself. Poindexter's trials as a newly wild pig fly in and out of the storyline as the inept villains weave the main humor of the plot. Whether you find the book laugh-out-loud funny or just pleasantly humorous, you will be rootin' for Poindexter to the end!

Bob Sanchez has put together a hilariously grotesque Coan Brothers' type road trip with characters you wouldn't want to meet in real life but love in fiction. A retired cop searching for the perfect place to scatter the ashes of his former partner sets up a chase scene involving his lovably dimented parents, an absurdly bigger than life villain, an Elvis impersonator, two extraordinarily dumb thieves named Zippy and Frosty, a heroic (and sometimes flying) pig, and that's only a small part of the weirdos who populate this novel, which, at its heart, is a love story. While juggling a myriad of stories and characters, Sanchez offers beautiful description of the American Southwest as well as absolutely hysterical one-liners. Buy the book and have some fun.

Finished a fast, fun read newly available on Kindle. My blog buddy Bob Sanchez has a few books out, and although I enjoy his travel posts and pictures, I had not gotten around to reading his novels because they weren't available on Kindle.

The minute When Pigs Fly got Kindled, I bought it, read it, and loved following the high-jinks of an inept gang of thieves in the fast-paced, action-packed, verbally astute mode of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.

Not everybody's a bad guy. The titular pig's pretty cool, and Mack, the protagonist, is a retired cop, grieving for his wife of thirty years, in an extended trip in the southwest. When his folks send his best friend's ashes to be distributed wherever Mack thinks best, he decides on the Grand Canyon, not realizing the urn holds more than ashes, or that he'll have company on his journey.

Diet Cola is a smelly ugly brute who, before heading off to serve time, tucks an item of value into the urn while robbing Mack's folks. He figures on retrieving it when he gets out of the slammer, and when he returns to find it gone, terrorizes the old folks into telling him where it went.

Diet Cola then heads southwest toward Mack, picking up a freak show of lowlifes that include an Elvis impersonator and assorted other goofballs with specialized skills but not much common sense. How these people end up in the desert together for a final showdown displays Sanchez's plotting skills. He gets `em there with plenty of style and a pace that never lags.

My reading tastes don't usually tend toward the underbelly of society, but Sanchez's idiot crooks and loose women made me laugh. Diet Cola is cruel enough to give readers the creeps and a sweet love story adds hope to Mack's crusade to let his wife go, scatter his friend's ashes, and save his parents from a homicidal maniac.

All that and a flying pig dressed like Elvis who gets his own happy ending makes for a smoothly snappy read.

When Pigs Fly, by Bob Sanchez, is the most unorthodox book I've ever read. I'm not referring to the religious connotations of unorthodox, but to the fact that the book is totally unconventional. It's hysterically funny and at the same time truly disgusting.

The 'Mystery' hinges on a lottery ticket and ceramic urn filled with a dead man's ashes. The villain, Diet Cola, is every person's worst nightmare. A horrible slob, without conscience. The characters that cross his path are a bizarre and outlandish group. Ace and Frosty, two Abbott and Costello, criminals do have a conscience although it doesn't always get in the way of their petty crimes. Elvis Hornacre believes he is the real 'King' (Elvis Presley) and dresses accordingly. He literally lets it all hang out. Calliope Vrattos is a former barmaid with a purse full of common but deadly weapons. Carrick and Brodie Durgin are a geriatric couple going blithely through life, aiding and abetting even wounded criminals, while their son, Mack Durgin, retired cop, seems to be one of the more sane people occupying the pages of the book. Mack does, however, talk to his dead friend's ashes and has an unfortunate one-night-stand with someone he visualizes as Mae West. Her boyfriend, called Zippy, because he has a zipper tattooed over his brain, takes exception and - well - it all comes together in one rollicking, fascinating wedding adventure atop the Grand Canyon where Diet Cola shows up in nothing but a hospital gown. I'll leave you now to either read the book or try to make sense of this review. Before I go, I must mention the most important character; Poindexter the pig. Do pigs really fly? Sometimes. But only when decked-out in sequins.

So, if you aren't offended by smelly arm-pits, rapid rise testosterone, and other bodily functions, then I think you'll enjoy this raunchy, highly entertaining offering by Bob Sanchez. I promise you won't read another quite like it!