Plugged by Eoin Colfer

From the New York Times–bestselling author: “Outrageous characters, uproariously funny plot twists, and brutal, nonstop action . . . a sure-fire winner.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
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 . . .
 
“A brilliant madcap mystery.” —Ridley Pearson
 
“Plugged is that rare book that mixes terrific suspense with laugh-out-loud humor.” —Associated Press
 
“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 . . . Lots of bloody fun.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“Perfect noir . . . terrific.” —Harlan Coben

This is a chaotic novel and not in an exciting bombastic way; rather a mess that feels made up on the fly. Described as a violent and unpredictable noir, the unpredictable part is the only aspect that hit the mark for me (and that’s not a good thing as you soon will see). Perhaps I have high standards as a crime/mystery thriller is one of my favorite genres to read, but the tone of the book didn’t work for me. It jockeys between trying to be a darker grisly man on the run story and a buddy cop/anti-hero slapstick comedy and doesn’t do a particularly good job in either direction. The plot is also nonsensical with things happening with no rhyme or reason and it has a habit of throwing in random flashbacks that derail whatever story is happening in the present instead of seamlessly transitioning back and forth with context. After the first 100 pages or so I stopped reading this as a mystery/crime investigation and as a “what ridiculous things from left field are they going to throw at the wall next”. How a soldier’s training allows a retired veteran to kill someone by impaling them with a door key is beyond me.

Unfortunately the characters are also thin and undeveloped. The club Daniel McEvoy works at has a host of coworkers and thugs in the area but they’re barely involved and they all start to blend together. Towards the end the book drops a surprise that two of Daniel’s coworkers are gay and in a relationship but there’s absolutely no hint or clue and I could barely remember who both of them even were. The trend also carries to the resolution and unveiling of the whodunnit. For me the unveiling landed with a dull shoulder shrug and the killer’s motive was even more lacking than the buildup to the reveal (or really the lack of of buildup in general). The one bright spot is the Irish flavor and humor Colfer injects into Daniel, however the character still feels generic and boring even with the accent.

I think this best way to sum up my experience reading Plugged was that I constantly wished I was reading a better thriller instead (the Kyle Achilles series by Tim Tigner or Dirk Gently by Douglas Adams come to mind). Colfer’s more recent adult novel Hellfire also shares the anti-hero, slapstick comedy tone but feels like a refinement and step up from what Plugged was trying to do. I grew up and still love Eoin Colfer’s novels but this one felt like a misfire.