Tag: W. Bruce Cameron

Repo Madness by W. Bruce Cameron

Repo MadnessRepo Madness

by W. Bruce Cameron
Series: Ruddy McCann, #2

Hardcover, 368 pg.
Forge Books, 2016

Read: September 7 – 8, 2016

I dropped Jake off at Kermit’s office before I headed out of town and tried to ignore how eager my dog was to leave the repo truck. ‘you know you belong to me,” I reminded him. He gave my hand an affectionate, reassuring lick. I think we both knew I was being condescended to by a basset hound.

Ahhh, Ruddy McCann — from local (and rising) sports star to someone pitied by a hound. Life isn’t that nice for him — even his heroics at the end of The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man didn’t do much to improve his life.

One day, he’s minding his business and a complete stranger comes up and tells him that he’s not guilty of the crime he was convicted of. This encounter turns his world upside down — he remembers nothing that happened around that time, he just assumed he was as guilty as he was told. But if he wasn’t?

He starts looking into things and soon finds more dead women than he expects — and before he knows it, Ruddy (and Alan) are on the trail of a possible serial killer.

He’s also found himself doing errands for (and maybe accidentally threatening people on behalf of) a corrupt banker — he is making pretty decent money this way, but he’s not sure he should. Still, he needs money as a couple of local police have taken to shutting down any of his repossession activities. So he soldiers on, while trying to find a way to take this guy down, too.

Ruddy’s having some difficulty in his personal life, too — both with his fiancée and his sister. Because a barely employed ex-con needs more complications in his life than stopping two crime sprees. Alan’s advice (as unwilling as he is to give it) probably saves the day, for him.

I’m not crazy about his psychologist as a character — but as an antagonist he worked well. Also, I’m not sure I like what we seem to have learned about Alan from him. The banker was amusing, I’m not sure I took him as seriously as a criminal, but I had fun with him. I may have liked Katie more in the last book, but she’s a good character and I enjoyed her effect on Ruddy.

I don’t know why Cameron gave Ruddy’s brother-in-law, Kermit, this knack for using the wrong word so often, but I have to tip my cap to him — it has to be hard to write (and not overdo it) and it works so well for building a character and bringing some extra lightness to his scenes.

Cameron walks a fine line between humor and serious drama — I don’t find this as funny as some, but it is light and amusing. That doesn’t take away from the drama, the danger or anything — it just makes the narrative easier to read.

This is one of those sequels that you don’t see the need for — The Midnight Plan was a fun novel, and a complete story, but it did leave the door open for this one (and Repo Madness has left at least one more open). I’m glad that Cameron brought Rudy back and look forward to his return. This was another solid outing for this unlikely hero.

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3 Stars

The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man by W. Bruce Cameron

The Midnight Plan of the Repo ManThe Midnight Plan of the Repo Man

by W. Bruce Cameron
Series: Ruddy McCann, #1

Hardcover, 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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3.5 Stars

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