Wild Turkey [Paperback]

Michael Hemmingson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2002

Phil Lansdale has problems. He's out of a job, his son's a pyromaniac, and his wife is running out of excuses as to why she comes home six hours late from work every night.

In his newly appointed house-husband position, Phil learns that when you have a lot of time on your hands, you begin to notice your neighbors, their intricate nuances, and the discord created by someone who doesn't follow the normal routine-like the long and sexy neighbor across the street, Cassandra Payne.
Phil and his new found friend, Bryan, an ex-detective who lives next door, have been keeping tabs on Cassandra. But when Cassandra's husband is gunned down, Phil and Bryan realize that the beautiful Cassandra might be hiding more beneath that eensy-weensy miniskirt than meets the eye, and Phil finds himself drawn into the dark and mysterious world of Cassandra Payne.

With a bottle of bourbon and a full tank of gas, Phil sets out to find the gunman and discovers the truth in a world where some men are men, some are wild, and some are only turkeys.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In an attempt to carve a contemporary California noir, this author of four "erotic novels" and editor of the San Diego Downtown News, winds up hacking out a treatment for a bad late-night cable movie teeming with skin-deep alcoholic characters and inane dialogue. Philip Lansdale had been living the American dream, but then he woke up. A disbarred San Diego attorney and father of an infant girl and a five-year-old boy who is a budding pyromaniac, he sits around drinking with his neighbors and ogling the beautiful British woman, Cassandra Payne, who lives across the street. Philip begins paying more attention to her than to his own wife, Tina, especially after Cassandra's husband is murdered. While Tina takes to barhopping with her girlfriends, Philip gradually drinks his way up to peeping through Cassandra's windows, drawn by the sultry jazz she plays. It doesn't take her long to "seduce" him at knifepoint, ? la Blue Velvet, and when their kinky affair heats up, Philip's son sets his house on fire. Meanwhile, a murder in Cassandra's past brings a hit man and the police to her doorstep, and more mayhem ensues. The story finally lurches to Las Vegas, where Cassandra reveals the secrets of her sordid past, then burns out in a ridiculous sendup of Pulp Fiction and Deliverance. At one point Philip says, "I wanted to cry but I couldn't. It was like I had no eyes." Readers will wish likewise. (June) Forecast: No trimmings on this bird, and few buyers.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Wild Turkey is intoxicating!”—John Lutz, bestselling author of SWF Seeks Same

“Wild Turkey deals up one nasty shock after another. It’s just what thriller addicts crave.”—John Clarkson, author of Reed’s Promise

“Wild Turkey is a quick slice of suburban noir that packs quite a wallop.”—Deadly Pleasures

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (May 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312878729
• ISBN-13: 978-0312878726
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,536,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cool, slick modern noir, December 6, 2002

By 

LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Turkey (Hardcover)

This is like John MacDonald updated to our times--middle class guy with great marriage gets into deep trouble with adultery, murder, and the whole shebang. Hemmingson, previously known for editing anthologies of erotic literature, here does a great job with prose smooth as silk. The tale is of Phil Lansdale, former lawyer now disbarred, who finds out his married neighbor, Cassandra Payne, is one swell looking babe and pursues his need to scratch that itch in spite of a wife who digs him a lot.

Phil starts drinking and doing stuff he never did before. He gets buddy-buddy with another neighbor, a retired cop, who thinks Cassandra may have done something pretty nasty. Of course this doesn't stop Phil from letting his pants go where his head shouldn't.

As Phil gets more and more involved in finding out who Cassandra is and what she may have done, things get worse and worse. The plot is fast and sharp; the momentum is powerful, and the action is intense.

Because Hemmingson's writing is so carefully controlled, you can read this in one afternoon or less. A great addition to the continuing availability of excellent modern noir fiction that also includes The Ice Harvest by Scott Phillips and The 25th Hour by David Benioff.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Lynch would love this book!, May 23, 2001

By 

Howard T. Rose (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Turkey (Hardcover)

David Lynch should make this book into a movie. Or one of Lynch's many cronies. This book screams, "I'm movie material!" No joke.

I was blown away by Hemmingson's Wild Turkey. Just when you think you have the story figured out, he throws a curveball at you.

Let's just say I didn't get to sleep until way past my bedtime as I read this little gem of a novel.

Highly recommended reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Hemmingson's Best Yet!, April 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Wild Turkey (Hardcover)

Be prepared for this one! Twists, turns, shocks -- violence, yearnings, and even a lot of sadness.

I have read a number of Hemmingson's books, from his erotic The Naughty Yard to the flawed SF thriller Minstrels to the weird anthologies he's edited, and the many novellas and stories of his I see in anthologies all over the place. I have to say Wild Turkey is his best yet. He's moved from the small press to commercial New York publishers, and this is a good thing.

The protagonist isn't the best hero you could find, but he's human, he's real -- he makes mistakes, and he makes them big. That's what's so refreshing about this "contemporary noir" novel: the hero isn't a tough private eye or Jack Nicholson charcater. He's an everyday Joe...or Phil.

This is a great book for those one-night sittings, maybe even a one-night stand. I look forward to Hemmingson's next book from Forge.