Synopses & Reviews
The long-awaited crime caper so outlandish, so maniacal, so wickedly funny, it could have only come from the mind that brought you Artemis Fowl.
Daniel McEvoy has a problem. Well, really, he has several, but for this Irish ex-pat bouncer at a seedy, small-time casino the fact that his girlfriend was just murdered in the parking lot is uppermost in his mind.
That is until lots of people around him start dying, and not of natural causes. Suddenly Daniel's got half the New Jersey mob, dirty cops and his man-crazy upstairs neighbor after him and he still doesn't know what's going on. Bullets are flying, everybody's on the take and it all may be more than Daniel's new hair plugs can handle.
And Daniel's got to find the guy who put in those hair plugs--or at least his body--and fast, or else he'll never get that voice out of his head. Head-spinning plot twists, breakneck pacing and some of the best banter this side of Elmore Leonard's Detroit, will keep you on the edge of your seat and itching for more.
Review
"Great writers can write anything, and Plugged is proof. Its author is Eoin (pronounced 'Owen') Colfer, a name you might recognize because he wrote the best-selling 'Artemis Fowl' books for young adults, as well as a sequel to Douglas Adams’s "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy." Taken together, those books feature fairies, unemployed gods, a boy genius, a green alien and a galactic president, which means it’s not easy to categorize Colfer or his writing. That’s a good thing. Because now he’s produced a bang-up crime novel for adults. This might lead you to think you’re in Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen or even Damon Runyon country, but you’re not. Although there are echoes of all three writers in Plugged, Colfer's novel is dominated, driven and fully animated by a refreshingly original voice . . . Colfer has the deftest of touches, so he underplays them at every opportunity, which makes the reader care all the more. Plugged packs a powerful dramatic wallop for such a slim volume, like a flyweight with a knockout punch. And Daniel McEvoy becomes a knight errant in a sensitively wrought study of the effects of war on the human soul. As I said, great writing."
Review
"Channeling noir stylists from Raymond Chandler to Elmore Leonard, Eoin Colfer the Irish author of the million-selling "Artemis Fowl" series for teens, goes a little crazy in his head-spinning, hilarious first novel for adults. "Plugged" introduces us to the charismatic Daniel McEvoy, who uses the lethal skills he learned in the Irish army as a strip-club doorman who finds himself in deep sewage with the cops and the Irish mob — thanks to his best friend, a crooked doctor who is giving him hair implants."
Review
"Author Eoin Colfer, who created those Artemis Fowl books, lives in Ireland. Again, hair-raising, dark bad boys, crime, events where your wife's brother gets selected 'designated drunk.' Daniel McEvoy's a bouncer, Irish. Like, what else? Lives there a villain who's Norwegian? His girlfriend gets suddenly dead. It's a crooked doctor, menacing homeland mob, seedy New Jersey club, more booze--and such prose as squeezing certain sensitive parts of a male Rottweiler. And Page 264's 'Little virgin Connie didn't want hands on her ass.' Eugene O'Neill it's not. Irish it is."
Review
"Irish author Colfer, best known for his middle-grade Artemis Fowl series, makes his much anticipated crime novel debut with this pitch-perfect comic noir . . . Outrageous characters, uproariously funny plot twists, and brutal, nonstop action make this a sure-fire winner."
Review
"The bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl novels dedicates this, his first crime novel for adults, to fellow Irish writer Ken Bruen, who 'made him do it.' The result is an infectious blend of hardboiled lunacy mixed with Celtic black humor that is held together by Colfer's own glorious voice."
Review
"Eoin Colfer makes his crime fiction debut with a bang… With swift pacing and plenty of twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very end, Colfer’s crime caper has all the makings of a classic thriller. Daniel tries to hide his insecurities and chivalrous weak spot behind his wry, self-deprecating humor, and his witty voice deftly blends comedy with the noir storytelling. A clever ending leaves room for a sequel and fans clamoring for more of this sensitive Irish rogue."
Review
"Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl youth series, employs similar techniques in this one--breathless plotting, humor, and wordplay--but he adds a diverse armory of guns, grenades, and stilettos. Fans of Ken Bruen’s hilarious odes to murderous psychopaths will want to get Plugged."
Review
"If Carl Hiasson married Raymond Chandler and engaged Dave Barry to be a surrogate mother, Plugged would be the progeny. Oh, grow up! This is a zany crime caper where such things are possible. With the unlikely title--redolent of Chandler's characters being "plugged" with lead bullets--the bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series makes his hilarious crime fiction debut á la Elmore Leonard. Incredible imagination won't suffice to solve this who-what-and-whydunnit. This five-star story in the vein of Robert Coover's Noir has more twists than a box of rotini pasta."
Review
"Plugged is a miles-apart transition for the acclaimed young adults' author, as he makes the brave leap to adult fiction--not the easiest of leaps to make, especially if that leap is the wide and dangerous canyon of hardboiled crime where safety nets are as scarce as a Tony Soprano's diet. Thankfully, Mr. Colfer's leap of faith has him landing expertly and solidly on his feet with page-turning ease. Funny, acerbic, crazed, riveting, sardonic--with just the right amount of hard-boiled dialogue--Plugged is everything you want in a summer read."
Review
"Eoin Colfer, primarily known for his children's books featuring Artemis Fowl, shows he can write a terrific crime novel for adults with Plugged . . . Plugged is that rare book that mixes terrific suspense with laugh-out-loud humor. McEvoy and his attitude will appeal to fans of both the crime novels of Elmore Leonard and the wacky characters prevalent in the novels of Carl Hiaasen."
Review
"Keeping New Jersey sleazy, Plugged is full of fake boobs, Irish gangsters, dirty cops, and a sea of salty language. And like a double shot of Jameson on an empty stomach, the buzz comes on quick . . . Colfer's prose is generous with the jokes and nimble with plot twists."
Review
"Compared with that criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl, Dan McEvoy is a bungling idiot. But that's essentially the appeal of Eoin Colfer's first adult protagonist, an expat Irish Army veteran who appears in Plugged . . . lots of bloody fun."
Review
"Colfer makes the transition [to adult literature] with his facility for the delightful Irish turn of phrase intact, even if many of those phrases are saltier this time around . . . the sharp curves come fast and so do the dips that make you feel giddy. Colfer keeps up the furious pace."
Review
"Colfer makes his adult crime fiction debut with this tale of Daniel McEvoy, who might be a doorman at a low-rent casino in Cloisters, NJ, but who once upon a time served two tours of active duty in the Irish army. . . The body count rises steadily as Daniel gets himself into various situations both dangerous and hilarious involving good and bad cops, crooked lawyers, barrels of steroids, and assorted mayhem. Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard fans should enjoy this hard-boiled novel with a dash of humor."
Review
"In the journey towards crime fiction, Eoin Colfer is helped by the fact that his children's hero, Artemis Fowl , was a master criminal. The narrator of Plugged is also quite a dodgy dude. This comedy of vanity in an action protagonist alerts us that we are in the territory of comedy crime, in the style of Carl Hiaasen. As he showed with the Artemis Fowl books, Colfer is an engaging and inventive writer with a strong sense of the rhythm of a story, its twists and riffs. Always entertaining page by page, the book also has a truly unexpected sex scene and much sassy dialogue."
Review
"Colfer's adult crime-fiction debut--after his bestselling Artemis Fowl YA series--introduces a big, brash, bawdy, balding anti-hero."
Review
"Colfer's first adult crime novel, Plugged is a gloriously ramshackle comedy crime caper. As a narrative vehicle the story is a getaway car careering downhill and losing wheels at every corner. Colfer, however, is too experienced a storyteller to get carried away himself. The propulsive chaos masks a palpable appreciation of the crime novel itself, not simply in terms of his playful subversion of the genre's tropes but also in Colfer's willingness to warp the parameters of what is essentially a conservative narrative form. Successfully blending the subgenres of comedy crime caper and hard-boiled noir is no mean feat, as those who have read Donald Westlake's pale imitators will confirm. Colfer's exuberance in this respect will delight the connoisseurs jaded by crime novels that insist on adhering to a predictable norm. Scabrously funny, furiously paced and distinctively idiosyncratic, Plugged ultimately comes to a belated reconciliation with the genre's conventions, but only after a titanic and entertaining struggle that suggests Colfer's first adult crime novel will not be his last."
Synopsis
Daniel has a problem. Well, he has several, but the worst is that the girl he loves was just murdered. Then more people around him start dying--and not of natural causes. Suddenly Daniel's got the mob, cops, and an unstable lovesick neighbor after him, and the only clue points towards the crooked doctor who gave him hair implants before vanishing into thin air. Luckily--or perhaps unluckily--he has the help of a volatile detective, a permanently hungover army psychologist, and a mischievous ghost. In , Colfer, beloved by millions for his Artemis Fowl series, has written a hilarious tour de force thriller of head-spinning plot twists, compulsive in the tradition of Carl Hiaasen's best work--a "pitch-perfect comic noir" (, starred review). Complete with the best banter this side of Elmore Leonard's Detroit, will leave you shocked, awed, and wanting more.
Synopsis
In the tradition of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen, Plugged tells the story of Daniel McEvoy, an Irish bouncer at a seedy New Jersey club.
About the Author
EOIN COLFER is the New York Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series and the sixth installment in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, And Another Thing . . . . He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.