Has its moments, but overall very underwhelming

Dave Barry is a comedy genius. I love 'Big Trouble'; and 'Tricky Business' was a worthy successor. So it pains me to say that this one really is no better than 1 - 1,5 stars.

What happened here?

1) Astonishing predictability. Inexcusable in almost any genre (maybe childrens' books aside), but in this type of comedy, it ruins the fun.
2) Lazy plotting. Instead of achieving an apparently effortless snowballing effect (comedy gold) like in his previous two novels, the plotting is forced and well ... predictable. (I'll omit examples because they might spoil the already thinly spread moments of suspense.)
3) Social justice preaching. This novel is as preachy-preachy as it gets. Sure, inserting social justice topics in general comedy can work very well. Barry's previous novels are perfect examples. In 'Big Trouble, he managed to weave the issue of 'undocumented aliens' into the fabric of the story in a way that felt natural. Here, he takes the same topic and unceremoniously clubs his readers over the head with it. Cave-men style.
4) Why do some authors insist on reading their own novels? The first two novels were professionally narrated by Dick Hill and that added immensely to the fun. Here, Barry opts for narrating himself, including awkward (audible) air-sucking when he's out of breath and the total absence of any variation in voices. I doubt Hill could have saved this audiobook, but Barry did himself no favors by doing it himself this time.

Conclusion: After two brilliant novels/audiobooks, this is one big letdown. Hopefully just a one-off.

1 - 1,5 stars

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