Bye,
Bye Bertie
By
Rick Dewhurst
Joe
LaFlam is a Christian detective who lives in Seattle. No, wait a
minute. Joe LaFlam is a cab driver who lives in Canada. Is that
right? Then there's John Doe who is
Oh, never mind.
Let's
try it again. Joe LaFlam is a Christian detective who believes he
lives in Seattle, but according to everyone else, he is in Canada.
He drives a cab at night and lives with his mother. And he can't
figure out why he isn't married yet. (Sigh.) It is a mystery isn't
it?
Encouraged
by his pastor to fast, Joe sets out on a 21 day "juice only"
fast. And he is committed to it - even though his mother does manage
to slip some Clamato into the mix. One question haunts Joe: Is Clamato
really juice? I mean, what part of the clam does the juice come
from? (By the way, I don't really want the answer to this.) As he
ponders this mind-numbing question and waits for his spiritual acuity
to soar due to his physical sacrifice, Joe is presented with a Groundhog
Day case. The same thing seems to happen over and over although
the main character changes. But
let's just start with the first
one, okay?
Miss
Brittany Morgan comes to Joe's office, asking for help. Her sister,
Bertie, has been kidnapped by an evil Droid
I mean Druid. She
needs Joe to take a large sum of money to a trash dumpster at the
zoo, near the monkey cage, so that her sister will be released.
Of course, she is $20,000 short - just the amount of money Joe inherited
from his grandmother. Being a devoted Christian, made even more
spiritual through fasting (although he just started), Joe feels
compelled to make up the difference. He delivers the money - but
uh oh - it disappears, along with Brittany (who was possible marriage
material). The next day, Bertie Morgan appears (also possible marriage
material) and tells Joe that Brittany has been kidnapped by the
same evil Druid. And well, things go downhill after that.
Then
there are the evil spelunkers who are planning a one world government
and want Joe dead because
. Oh, never mind.
Bye,
Bye Bertie is a roller-coaster ride you're not sure you want to
go on once you look over the first big hill, but after you've ridden
awhile, you know you're hooked for good. Rick Dewhurst has created
an absolute gem. I don't remember ever laughing so much over a book.
Dewhurst manages to make fun of just about everyone - so no one
should be offended. Christians will laugh at themselves; non-Christians
will laugh at Christians; everyone will laugh at Joe, and well,
trust me - buy this book. Unless your funny bone has been surgically
removed, you will absolutely love Bye, Bye Bertie.
I
give it my very highest (standing on my tiptoes!) recommendation!
|
The
Book |
Broadman & Holman |
January
2005 |
Trade
Paperback |
0805431829 |
Mystery
/ Humor |
More
at Amazon.com |
Excerpt
|
NOTE:
|
The
Reviewer |
Nancy Mehl |
Reviewed
2005 |
NOTE:
|
|