Bill Fitzhugh

A wacky adventure that stretches incredulity, Heart Seizure by Bill Fitzhugh would be wonderful for fans of Tim Dorsey or Carl Hiaasen. The campy tone is foreshadowed by a table of contents that all contains references to songs with “heart” in the title. Fitzhugh plies the “racing against time” device to crank up the tension and give the reader the feeling of escalating chaos. The cast of characters bloom into an almost unmanageable number, but the main protagonist in the novel is show more Spence Tailor. His mother, Rose has been on a long list for a heart transplant and has finally reached the top. Her sons go with her to prepare for the procedure when an unexpected event occurs—placing her claim to the donated heart in jeopardy. Spencer decides he must prevent his mother’s heart from being hijacked. He impulsively steals and flees with the organ. Then, he drags his mother and brother on a desperate search for a surgeon who will agree to do the transplant. Along the way, they pick up a motley crew of kidnap victims that include a doctor, several representatives of US Intelligence, and innocent bystanders. Heart Seizure is definite a classic caper, slapstick and ludicrous from beginning to end. As the reader is carried along by the quest, they must discard skepticism, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Thanks to the author, William Morrow Books and Edelweiss for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. show less

This guy's books are good. I read a lot of this one on the airplane and in airports and people do look at you funny when you are reading a book and laughing out loud. Trust me. In this one, Eddie Long is set on becoming the next big country music singing star. He has songs and a voice and an ingenious marketing plan. When his wife becomes the victim of a serial killer, his dreams all start to come true. Seriously, Fitzhugh makes it funny.

Bill Fitzhugh's 1996 novel "Pest Control" is so much fun it's a wonder more people haven't read it -- or even heard about it. But then I always wondered why Donald E. Westlake's comic caper novels were not major bestsellers. Pest Control may not be quite as funny or as good as Westlake's best work, but it's close.

The story tells about a professional pest exterminator named Bob Dillon whose great idea is to breed a new bug that will kill other bugs, as if property owners will pay good money show more to try to get rid of their roaches and termites by inviting even bigger, nastier insects into their homes and businesses. Through a series of events that almost seem plausible as Fitzhugh tells the story, Bob gets a reputation as another kind of professional exterminator, a hitman. Pretty soon most of the other top assassins in the world are coming to New York City to kill him, both to eliminate one of their competitors and to collect a large bounty placed on his head by a South American dictator.

One of these assassins is Klaus, a man who entered the business to make the world a better place. He kills only people who deserve to be killed, and when he realizes Bob is nothing more than the harmless exterminator he claims to be, he comes to the rescue. Klaus doesn't save the day by himself, however. With his knowledge of New York and bugs, Bob proves very resourceful against the armed killers, too.

Decades ago someone like Don Knotts or Tim Conway would have been chosen to play Bob Dillon in a film version of Pest Control. That casting would not have been quite right, however. Bob isn't so much a klutzy, mindless comic character as he is an ordinary Joe with a one-track mind. He thinks only about bugs. In a flashback we get to read a love letter he wrote to his sweetheart back in college. The letter is filled with bug metaphors. Mary married him anyway, and in the story she leaves him when their rent is overdue and Bob refuses to rely on dependable, if dangerous, chemicals to do his job.

Mary returns to Bob by the end of the novel. She may be the story's true hero. show less

After reading Pest Control, I picked up Organ Grinders and hated it. This book was a triumphant return to the style of writing and humor that made Pest Control such a great book. The character development is excellent. At the beginning of the novel, Dan Steele, the main character is a prototypical yuppie executive whose thirst for material possessions exceeds all other desires in his life. By the end, he cares about his fellow man and not as much about how many toys he can amass. The aspect show more of the novel that really shines, though, is how Fitzhugh portrays the residents of the Care Center. While most authors might stereotype the elderly as cranky old codgers, Fitzhugh portrays them as the people who society forgot and who are desperately trying to cling to the Care Center, the last meaningful thing in their lives. While the ending seems kind of rushed, it is satisfying. This novel is a return to the style of Pest Control, and is all the better for it. show less