The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man
by W. Bruce Cameron
Series: Ruddy McCann, #1Hardcover, 319 pg.
Forge Books, 2014
Read: May 6, 2015
Disgraced college football star, ex-con, turned hometown shame and repo man, Ruddy McCann suddenly finds himself hearing voices — well, a voice, one that claims to be a local Realtor who disappeared 8 years earlier. Ruddy eventually convinces himself that he’s not going crazy, there’s actually a ghost living inside his brain, one who used to be Alan Lottner. Alan was murdered by someone he vaguely recognizes and a complete stranger, for reasons unknown to him. He also doesn’t know why he’s in Ruddy’s mind. There are a couple of things he does know: Ruddy needs to take better care of himself and his home; and that Ruddy can help him figure out what happened to him, and why.
While working on this quest, Ruddy works on some repo jobs, tries to help a friend out of a jam, and attempts to help keep his sister’s bar afloat — oh, and he’s met this great gal that he can’t stop thinking about. The fact that she’s Alan’s daughter just complicates things.
Cameron doesn’t bother explaining much about how Alan and his host were linked, why it took so long for Alan to become aware, or anything like that. It doesn’t even pretend to. And that’s okay, it works, somehow — even though I wouldn’t generally stand for that kind of thing.
I didn’t find this as funny as most people seem to — I found bits amusing, I thought the characters were drawn with a comedic brush, but that Cameron played it straight — rarely going for jokes or laughs, but finding the humor in these people just living — a more grounded, and genuine kind of humor. The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man is a pretty solid suspense story, with a side of romance, a few people looking for a second chance (maybe a bit of redemption), a loyal dog, and some silly characters. This one hit the spot.
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