Book Review: Fool's Paradise

Reviewed By: Gina Metz - RAM

Fool's Paradise     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Steve Brewer
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Humorous
University of New Mexico Press; 2003; 182pp

Fool’s Paradise begins with John Ray Mooney, a felon freshly released from Folsom Prison casing a bank to rob on Coronado Island, off San Diego. John Ray desperately needs the money to repay a loan to a dangerous biker gang leader that lent him attorney fees before he went to Folsom, that now wants his money immediately if John Ray wants to live. There he spots Billy Ho, who is a con man staying at the same hotel, Hotel del Coronado, who has convinced hotel management that he is the Prince of the Sultanate of Yip.

Billy has befriended Lowell Huganut, a fireman from New Mexico that is staying at the hotel by winning a contest. Lowell is quite shy, from a small town and quite in awe of Billy. He has also drawn the attention of Liza West, a twice divorced Coronado resident who is in dire need of money to remodel her dying business and get the debt collectors away from her front door and thinks the Prince just might be the one to fix her current situation. Billy also draws the attention of Earl Shambley, a retired dirty cop working as a bank security guard.

I have read many of Steve Brewer’s books and am sad to say that this has been my least favorite of them. It is a decent short story but just probably more not to my taste than anything else. For a quick read, some laughs at the expense of this group of misfits, it is a decent read but his other books I have read so far have been much better by far. One thing I did enjoy was the main setting of The Hotel Del Coronado, where I have had the pleasure of staying myself so I could easily picture in my mind where they were.

Gina Metz - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Gina Metz - RAM