cover image TOO HIGH

TOO HIGH

Corson Hirschfeld, . . Forge, $25.95 (444pp) ISBN 978-0-7653-0011-9

Following his well-received debut, Aloha, Mr. Lucky (2000), Hirschfeld delivers another uproarious novel of eccentrics and fanatics. A bus loaded with 436 southern timber rattlesnakes crashes in eastern Kentucky, releasing its cargo into foreign territory. Quiet and deadly, they become the leitmotiv in the operatic events unfolding in McAfee County. Hawaiian archaeologist Digger Fitz and his herpetologist niece, Nikki, team up with the local sheriff's department to find a killer when Digger's cousin Edgar is found murdered. A retired archaeologist himself, Edgar had been consulting for wealthy oddball Smoot Mudd, a self-proclaimed descendant of Daniel Boone. Smoot and his arch-rival, Cincinnati corporate raider Alphonse LeCoup (who claims the explorer La Salle for his ancestor), are vying to buy what Digger discovers is a stolen artifact of the French and Indian Wars. (Edgar had almost certainly learned the object was hot before he died.) For these two men, it's war; for McAfee County, it's Armageddon. The convoluted plot pulls in an over-armed local militia fueled by fear of the federal government and extraterrestrials in equal measure; self-described former Mossad agents; and a sexy, blonde, beehived grifter and her drug-addled brother, a hit man named Jesus-Bob. The murder investigation takes a back seat to the antics of the two old men and their foot soldiers. The skillful juggling of multiple viewpoints, as well as the vivid characters, make this an amusing and enjoyable book. There are some loose threads at the end, but it's all funny. (Sept. 13)

Forecast:Fans of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen looking for more of the same could help this series catch fire.