Official Review: The Haddock Flies At Midnight

[Pluma]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Haddock Flies At Midnight" by Keven Shevels.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Haddock Flies at Midnight by Keven Shevels is, in the author’s own words to his main character, “A darkly comic tale of love, lust and betrayal”. This book will have you falling off your chair laughing from page one and keep you interested and engaged to the conclusion, wanting to know the fates of the host of flawed but hilarious characters.

The book starts when Ivor Dogsbreath wakes one morning to be informed by a mysterious voice (introducing himself as the author) that he’s been written as the main character in the author’s new book. Things quickly get interesting from there, and Ivor finds himself embroiled in a web of intrigue and mystery. The characters include a suspected terror cell (made up of Mohamed, Mohamed, Mohamed, Mohamed, Mohamed and Justin), a group of Satanists, a church of opinionated Americans, and an unscrupulous arms dealer. These and several other hilarious and accident-prone characters and their escapades make up the threads of the book, a harrowing and hilarious tale of espionage, betrayal and disaster. There are killers on the loose, grudges to be satisfied and missions to be fulfilled, and the storylines collide in an epic showdown near the book’s end, with chaotic results.

I found myself laughing out loud mere pages into this story, and not many books get me to do that. The author has his own special brand of humour, with elements such as creative names (‘Avery Tom Deacon-Harry’ being a good example) and curious characters (like sneaky cleaning ladies and experimenting owls) livening up the plot. The way the author included himself in the story was also funny and unique, and I enjoyed this as well as the subtler jokes and self-deprecating humour. This book is certainly a lot of fun to read, and that was what I enjoyed the most about it.

However, a few elements made this book a less pleasant reading experience. Many of the jokes could be considered to be offensive or insensitive to various people, right from religious groups of several persuasions to the LGBT community, from different ethnicities and races to overweight people and the homeless; there was also a lot of female objectification throughout the book. These jokes were often crass and crude, and though I don’t think the author was trying to target any of these people or groups particularly it still comes across as insensitive. This was my least favourite thing about the book, and it spoiled some of the humour for me.

There are other elements which could be disturbing or especially offensive to some readers; there are plenty of swear words and innuendos right from page one, so I wouldn’t recommend this book to any but mature readers. There is also plenty of gory humour, such as characters being blown up or cut to pieces, so readers who are sensitive to such things should steer clear.

I found various errors throughout the book, mostly incorrect grammar and punctuation, that interfered with the reading experience. Also, the story includes a lot of groups and characters to keep track of, which can get confusing in some scenes. In addition to these issues, I did feel as if the story lost momentum around the middle, resulting in it feeling very drawn out; I feel like the book could have been improved by making it shorter, especially since some of the humour is really repetitive and stops being funny after the first few times. I understand what the author was going for, and it was amusing at first, but then it started feeling overdone, even for someone who appreciates that style of joke.

In conclusion, the creative elements and unique humour made this a fun and refreshing read, but the issues I mentioned would cause me to take two stars off the rating, leaving it with two out of four stars.

I recommend this book to those with a sense of humour looking for a fun and irreverent read, but younger readers and those who might be offended by any of the issues I mentioned should steer clear.

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The Haddock Flies At Midnight
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[PeterRabitt20]

It's too bad for the 2-star rating. Some humor can get a bit out of hand and be offensive to some people. I'm glad you were honest and mentioned that in your review. Thanks for your wonderful review.

[Praise GodWord]

A flawed does not always have a dark end. It's a surprise. Great review.

[Victoria Copsey]

It is a shame about the various issues you had with the book. Humour is often very hard to get right in writing. Great review!

[Mbrooks2518]

This does seem like a fun and funny book, but the problems you mentioned makes me hesitant to read it.
Thanks for the great, informative review!