Plugged

Plugged: A Novel by Eoin Colfer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Bouncer Daniel McEvoy's life spins out of control when the girl he loves winds up dead, his friend turns up missing, thugs all over town are gunning for him, and his crazy neighbor may be in love with him. Worse yet, he's going bald...

I heard Eoin Colfer speak at BoucherCon 2011 and he was so hilarious I had to immediately snap this one up. I was not disappointed.

Plugged is a damn fine adult novel from Colfer, much better than the Hitchhiker's Guide sequel he wrote a couple years ago. Daniel McEvoy is a great lead character; funny without being a smart ass, not particularly handsome or bright, and more than a little worried about going bald, hence his hair transplant. See, the title has more than one meaning. Plugged as in shot or as in hair transplant. Get it? Nevermind.

The characters other than McEvoy aren't as well developed but are still an interesting bunch. There's Zeb, the unlicensed doctor, Mrs. Delano, Daniel's crazy neighbor, Detective Deacon, Vic, Irish Mike, the list goes on and on. For most of the book, the reader is as much in the dark as Daniel.

While Plugged is a good mystery with plenty of twists and turns, the humor is by far the draw. It's chock full of dark Irish wit and self-deprecating humor. I could easily see it being optioned for a movie starring Simon Pegg.

Plugged is an easy four star book. However, it wasn't without some rocky patches. The who killed Connie subplot seemed forgotten and the bit with Irish Mike wasn't quite firing on all cylinders. I also have an issue with a floppy disk being able to hold an entire video of a hair transplant operation. It seems like Colfer should have used a thumb drive or similar device to serve as the McGuffin.

Like I said, Plugged is an easy four. I'll be watching for more novels by Colfer in the future.



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