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Rating: 
Summary: It was rushed, and you can feel it--a bit.
Review: Bill Fitzhugh never fails to delight and entertain me. I love all his characters. He gives each full development and delightful twists. I'll read everything he writes. Bravo!!
Rating: 
Summary: Fitzhugh is Awesome!!!
Review: Heart Seizure is a political satire that will keep the pages turning. Fitzhugh is an incredibly intelligent writer with a knack for plot twists and intersections that will keep your head spinning. He does a breathtaking job of taking something that most people despise and turning it into something that we can laugh at, showing the ridiculousness of it all.
Rating:
Summary: Fitzhugh is Awesome!!!
Review: Heart Seizure is a political satire that will keep the pages turning. Fitzhugh is an incredibly intelligent writer with a knack for plot twists and intersections that will keep your head spinning. He does a breathtaking job of taking something that most people despise and turning it into something that we can laugh at, showing the ridiculousness of it all.
Rating:
Summary: Action-packed and funny!
Review: In this action-packed, comedic thriller, in order to
save his mother's life, the unlikely hero and his
reluctant brother, along with a gay cop, an attractive
female doctor, a heavily tatooed professional
skateboatder and, ultimately, even a Mormon basketball
team, take on the forces (and counterforces) of the
President's inner ring, the FBI, CIA, as well as
other, lesser-known, branches of the US government. In Fitzhugh's take on Government, the big-wig
politicos are well-groomed, self-serving,
cliche-spouting incumbents bent on advancing their own
careers, while their agents are highly trained,
over-equipped bumblers. While trying to use TV air
time efficiently, one candidate manages to
successfully cram an amazing multitude of
contradictory cliches together: "And that's why I'm
suggesting to party leadership that we make a formal
request to Congress for the formation of a bipartisan,
blue-ribbon, panel on ways to increase federal
spending on homeland security while lowering taxes and
keeping the economy strong while at the same time
protecting Social Security and Medicare." Fitzhugh
explains concisely how government works; "...it was in
this spirit of reaching across the aisle to pass the
pork that the project known as CP-1 was born"; and
also enlightens the reader as to political
rationalizations: "Our only concern is this nation's
well-being. And sometimes that is best served by lying
to the public." There are few in Fitzhugh's league when it comes to
fresh, funny and vivid metaphors, that help bring the
tale to life:
"Byrd was behind the wheel of Spence's old Chevy,
twitching and sweating like Dick Nixon's upper lip";
"The question hit her like a foul ball, and she
remembered..."; "The words poured over her brain like
warm caramel, settling sweetly into the folds"; "The
media coverage bloomed like a virus"; "The gathered
press reacted like a herd of zebras hearing a twig snap." Fitzhugh never seems to run out of good
adjectives and rich metaphors, as well as his
trademark one-line quips. One of my favorite scenes involved the very fast give
and take on a political talk show, hosted by a very
imaginative individual who invariably cuts off his
guests in mid-stream, while they're trying to respond
to his last question, in order to move on to his next
outlandish theory. I busted out laughing at the
"Experts" on the discussion panel, who somehow distorted an innocent photograph of some all-American
kid blowing out candles on a birthday cake, as a prime
example of foreign "terrorist cells staging
traditional American celebrations in order to attempt
to blend in." Our clever announcer then summarizes by
exclaiming, " Holy Cow!...You serve a little idealogy
with the cake and ice cream and the next thing you
know, they're strapping a bomb to themselves and
strolling in to the capital, is that it?" And then there's the rich scene where the female
heroine lures the lecherous FBI agent into the
bathroom stall and proceeds to reduce him with some
artful blows to a pile of bleeding flesh. Fitzhugh's characters are very human, endearing and
well-developed. His fact settings are zany, but
somehow possible - Fitzhugh takes ordinary people and
puts them in unusual settings to see what they will
do. They generally prove to be more resourceful and
heroic than they would have thought. As a result, they
are inspriring to the reader. I thought that this book
had some of Fitzhugh's best-developed characters. And
their conversational exchanges and dialog are great. All in all, my most satifying read of Fitzhugh's
works. He successfully blends together a lot of
action, biting social commentary, and lessons about
love and the importance of relationships. Binding it
all together, and keeping the reader laughing from
page to page, is Fitzhugh's trademark sharp wit. I
strongly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: wild satire
Review: Rose Tailor needs a heart transplant, but her AB blood type makes her need the rarest of organs. Over time Rose works her way to the top of the AB list and is the person to receive the next heart. However, while on the campaign trail for reelection doing the "required" Clinton fitness jog, President Webster collapses. Rushed to the hospital, he needs an AB heart transplant. When stunt car driver Mardell Coleman dies in a crash leaving his AB ticker in place, all the president's men jump the conga line to take the heart while Rose's two adult sons, attorney Spence and banker Boyd, think otherwise. The competition seems unfair as Webster only has the FBI while Tailor has only her two sons who have slew nothing. The mad, mad, mad world chase begins with one heart for whoever proves to be the worthier warrior. HEART SEIZURE is a wild satire that skews many of the sacred icons of American society especially the notion of fair play when the upper elite or the bottom line competes against the multitude of middle masses. The novel turns the "Stupid White Man's" calendar into a full Keystone Cop's parody of the hallowed symbols of equality. Though relationships outside the Tailor family and the governmental vertical organization are never developed, the cast in its zany way makes the story work. Fans who want to see the other side of the rest of the story will relish Bill Fitzhugh's latest skin ripper, but clearly more cheers will come from the supporters of Bernie Sanders than those who are always right. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Fun
Review: See book summary above. I've read all of Fitzhugh's books and this one ranks as average. Not his best work but still more fun to read than most authors of this genre--of which there are not enough. Keep'em coming and I'll keep readin'. Recommended
Rating:
Summary: Funniest book I've read!
Review: Spence and Boyd's mom needs a heart transplant. So does the President of the U.S. Both have a rare blood type. Mom is next in line, a perfect donor is in place, but the Pres. has top priority. Not to Spence! He absconds with the heart, his mom, a resident doctor, a policeman, his brother and his brother's cherished vintage Mustang. Now the chase is on!
There are so many laugh-aloud moments in this book. The agents following them on their journey...Rodgers and Hart. Boyd,
the straight-laced brother, whose wife does a most unusual thing
with a government agent. The skate-boarding Rasta-boy and his
drop-dead funny Rasta speak!
I honestly was glad that my neighbor in the next condo had moved out. Fear that he would hear me laughing hysterically and wonder what was wrong with me!
I was one of the first reviewers of Bill Fitzhugh's "Pest Control." He e-mailed me to thank me for my 5 star review. Since then I have gone up and down on his books...loved "Cross
Dressing", not so much "Fender Benders", started "Organ Grinders" but didn't finish.
This one is GREAT! TOO FUNNY! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Funniest book I've read!
Review: Spence and Boyd's mom needs a heart transplant. So does the President of the U.S. Both have a rare blood type. Mom is next in line, a perfect donor is in place, but the Pres. has top priority. Not to Spence! He absconds with the heart, his mom, a resident doctor, a policeman, his brother and his brother's cherished vintage Mustang. Now the chase is on!
There are so many laugh-aloud moments in this book. The agents following them on their journey...Rodgers and Hart. Boyd,
the straight-laced brother, whose wife does a most unusual thing
with a government agent. The skate-boarding Rasta-boy and his
drop-dead funny Rasta speak!
I honestly was glad that my neighbor in the next condo had moved out. Fear that he would hear me laughing hysterically and wonder what was wrong with me!
I was one of the first reviewers of Bill Fitzhugh's "Pest Control." He e-mailed me to thank me for my 5 star review. Since then I have gone up and down on his books...loved "Cross
Dressing", not so much "Fender Benders", started "Organ Grinders" but didn't finish.
This one is GREAT! TOO FUNNY! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Strange Characters Aplenty Pepper this Tale
Review: Spence Tailor has a problem. His brother is a bit uptight. His career isn't the most lucrative. His wardrobe hasn't evolves since law school, and his mother is losing heart. Literally. Once again Bill Fitzhugh tackles the wacky world of organ transplants. While in his last book on this subject, The Organ Grinders, he satirically slaps around the biotech industry, this time his victims is the Federal Government. In the heat of a presidential election the incumbent president suffers a massive heart attack and needs a new heart. Lucky for him a stuntman just met with a bit of fatal accident. Lucky for him the heart is an excellent match for his rare blood type. Unfortunately, this heart is about to be placed inside the chest of sweet old Ms. Rose Tailor, Spence's Mom. So what's a politician to do? Steal the heart of course.
For some reason Spense doesn't like this so, along with his (...) banker brother, Spence steals the heart and kidnaps a pretty young doctor with an unfortunate choice in undergarments. This leads to a madcap, wacky chase involving the FBI, CIA, redneck tourists, extreme athletes and a Mormon basketball team. While this isn't Fitzhugh's best technical achievement, it definitely is one of his most fun and funniest novels to date.
Rating:
Summary: It was rushed, and you can feel it--a bit.
Review: This is probably Fitzhugh's weakest book, but as someone else pointed out: his weakest is better than most author's best. The book is typically madcap and funny, but you can feel the rush job a bit. He would have benefited from tighter editing, and though the book moves as a great pace (I read it in a day and a half) I felt like some of this could have been left out (this is the first time for me where Fitzhugh has given us setups that didn't pay off). It's still an occasionally hilarious book--the satire is at times dead-on, and other times too forced--and I'd recommend it to anyone with a skewed sense of humor.
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