Tom Cooper (1)

Got this one from Mark several years ago, and finally pulled it off the shelf. Its the story of life in a small shrimping town in the Louisiana bayou after a BP Oil spill has decimated the waters. It shows how an eclectic cast of characters gets by. From a one-armed shrimper who is obsessed with finding pirate treasure, to a set of sketchy twins growing "something" out in the swamp, to the company man from BP trying to get everyone in town to sign a settlement agreement. This was a fun read. If anyone wants it, I'm happy to send it to you.… (mere)

I really liked this authors first book The Marauders, and reading the back of this book made it sound great. Sadly it wasn’t.
It wasn’t funny, though it should have been.
It wasn’t a mystery/ suspense/ thriller novel.
It wasn’t even a history lesson.
It was about a guy who encapsulates many of the crazy people you read about living in Florida. But it was often times boring.
Sad, because it could have been a great book in someone else’s hands and with an editor.
Oh well the author is 1 for 2.… (mere)

What a debut! Cooper introduces a host of salty, well-delineated characters, and it's fun to see how they'll intersect, because you just know they will. The book is not really plot-driven, it's definitely a character driven novel, and what characters.
Cooper's evocative descriptions of the Louisiana swamp country is worth the price of admission alone. But it's also laugh out loud funny in several places, and quite moving in other places, and grimly violent in others. I love when a book (or movie) can suddenly shift in mood and tone believably, it makes for an unpredictable experience. In that regard, it reminds me of Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. Definitely looking forward to the next novel from Tom Cooper.… (mere)