Odd Jobs: A Novel

Karl Meade
iUniverse (2009)
ISBN 9780595534807
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (04/10)


Convincing the woman of his dreams to marry him was a major coupe for a normally unmotivated man like Marty Drysdale.  Managing to stay married to her is another story.  When Chick, his gorgeous wife/Royal Canadian Mounty starts getting tired of Marty’s unsuccessful money-making schemes and of being the sole breadwinner in the family, the marriage goes downhill fast.

Determined to prove himself and to win her back, Marty comes up with another crazy plan.  This one involves making a movie about odd jobs.  Along the way, as the pages of useless script pile up, Marty gets involved with some low life’s who suck him into their nefarious plans of burglarizing people who have burglarized others.  This way they will be less likely to report the crimes to the police.  Somehow this scheme gets tied into Marty’s idea about making a movie and things get very difficult. 

Marty also has to deal with some new discoveries about Chick and how her life has changed.  Things get even more complicated when he has people that he ticked off start chasing him. This results in an interesting adventure with pet lobsters.  He also becomes attached to a “wiser than her years” little girl who has moved in next door who likes to get into his business.  Yes, Marty’s life is not dull, and there are many moments where the phrase, “If he didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all,” played through my head. 

I totally enjoyed reading “Odd Jobs.”  Having just gone through a 7.2 earthquake and a bomb threat at my job, I wasn’t sure if anything could make me laugh.  Well, this book sure did.  Fans of Carl Hiassen and Elmore Leonard books will delight in finding another talented author who writes in a similar style.  I definitely would say that “Odd Jobs” is a must read!

Make comment on weblog

FTC Disclosure