Books › Big Trouble
Big Trouble
First published 1999 · 339 pages
A sun-baked, wildly escalating farce where suburban dysfunction collides with high-stakes crime.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like strapping into a wildly unpredictable rollercoaster under the blazing Florida sun. It is a propulsive, slapstick caper that thrives on pure chaos, blending the mundane frustrations of suburban family life with the absurd, high-stakes world of international terrorism and bumbling criminals. The narrative moves at a breakneck pace, bouncing between an eccentric cast of oddballs whose lives intersect in increasingly ridiculous and explosive ways. The prose is punchy and irreverent, designed to deliver rapid-fire comedic payoffs while maintaining the tension of a ticking-clock thriller. It is the perfect read for anyone who delights in zany, escalating farces where every terrible decision snowballs into a spectacular, laugh-out-loud catastrophe.
- Mood
- frenetic
- zany
- sun-baked
- unpredictable
- Tone
- comedic
- absurd
- irreverent
- chaotic
- satirical
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- suburban absurdity · colliding worlds · chaotic family dynamics · the ridiculousness of crime
- The writing
- Fast-paced and punchy, relying on sharp comedic timing and escalating absurdity.
- The arc
- Starts with mundane suburban dysfunction and escalates into a wildly chaotic, high-stakes farce.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love zany, fast-moving capers where a massive cast of eccentric characters collides in spectacular fashion.
Content notes
- murder
- terrorism
- nuclear weapons
- gun violence
About the book
A slapstick thriller set in Florida, featuring oddball characters. They include a homeless man who lives in a tree, a student with a squirt gun playing a game called Killer, a couple of real killers, and a terrorist with a nuclear bomb in a suitcase.
Description from Open Library.
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