Chocolate Lizards: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Cowboy follies come alive in 'Chocolate Lizards'
Review: A good cowboy story cuts straight to the heart of classic Americana, and with the promise of cowboy boots, a ten-gallon hat and some cattle, adventure is sure to follow.

Not only does Cole Thompson's Chocolate Lizards provide the right western regalia, it also has oil wells, pick-up trucks and a hooker from Dallas. So maybe that last item isn't a prerequisite for a good western story, but hookers are pretty prevalent in the cowboy genre of entertainment.

Erwin Vandeever has failed in Hollywood and is on his way back home to Boston when he loses all of his money during a bus-ride poker game. He gets off at the first stop and finds himself in Abilene, Texas. He has the good luck of meeting Merle Luskey, who needs a good hand to help him at his oil rigs and will pay him until he gets enough money to return to Boston.

What starts out as a predictable hard-luck story with a happy ending, quickly turns into a wild ride through Texas as Erwin (soon dubbed "Harvard" for his alma mater) and Merle have to save Merle's oil rigs from the bank.

The over-riding moral to Chocolate Lizards (and what good cowboy tale doesn't have a clearly-stated moral?) is that you need to work at reaching your goals and never give up on them; friends can be the most helpful tools you utilize along the way.

Merle, a big, lanky cowboy with huge boots, pushes Harvard to succeed in daunting tasks. He also gets him a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots, otherwise known as chocolate lizards. Merle sees that Harvard had been offered all kinds of talents and opportunities, but that he needs to stand up to his father and really give his all to being an actor.

In return, Harvard helps Merle trespass, con, spy and cheat his way into striking oil and saving his oil rig.

Thompson makes this modern western so unbelievably great by adding in weirdness all over the place. Merle makes for the strangest cowboy. He's not exactly the Duke.

Police chases end with helicopters chasing after Merle's pick-up. Secret spy cameras obtain expensive confirmation about the location of oil. Best of all, Tex-Ann, the tall, flamboyant exotic dancer from Dallas, proves to be an essential part of Merle and Harvard's quest to save the oil rig.

Don't worry though. The love is sappy, as real cowboys might get the girls, but tend not to be too suave.

Chocolate Lizards is an awesome read that flies by and tempts you to get some chocolate lizards of your own.

Rating:
Summary: West Texas wildcatting
Review: An interesting first novel by the author, but it is a little heavy on technical details of oil well drilling. When would be actor Erwin Vandeveer finds himself broke and stranded in Abilene, Texas, he hooks up with Merle Luskey, an oil driller in trouble with his bank. Merle puts him to work as a roughneck on a drilling rig, and then decides to use Erwin's Harvard education to help solve his financial problems.

Oil drilling is intermixed with burglery, industrial espionage, cut-throat business dealings, sabotage, kidnapping, and a lot of hard drinking (Merle seems to survive on red meat and Jack Daniels). Along the way, they are joined by a well-endowed exotic dancer, a redneck rancher, and an interesting assortment of oil field roughnecks. A new banker is willing to be the white knight (for a percentage of the action) if the well comes in.

The action is fast paced. The title, by the way, refers to Erwin's new boots.

Rating:
Summary: Chocolate Lizards
Review: and gets on your nerves. It's his innocence that keeps you reading, and reading. Good first novel writing, not excellent, too many words for the story, might get a better editor next time around. Funny thing, days after turning the last page, I had to admit that the book got under my skin and became very personal in an intriguing way.

Rating:
Summary: Insanely Funny!
Review: Erwin Vandeveer has just bombed out of Hollywood, where his Harvard education turns out to be no help at all, and is heading back to Boston to eat crow, when, somewhere near Abilene, Texas, he loses his last dollar in a crooked poker game. Well, all is not lost; oilman Merle Luskey takes him in and puts him to work. So far, so good, but, see, Merle is about to lose everything to the bank unless he can come up with a new oil discovery, like, within thirty days!

Well, enough about the plot. The book is about fighting for your dreams, following your insanity wherever it may lead, wild-cat oil-drilling, West Texas dialect, industrial espionage, over-the-top characters, and most of all the unforgettable character of Merle Luskey himself, a hard-drinking, rough-talking, fast-driving (don't try this stuff at home) madman, who just might know a thing or two about life.

Will Merle strike oil? Will the bank take everything? Will the corrupt local sheriff lock him up? Will Erwin make it back to Boston? And what in the world are chocolate lizards? You will just have to read the book to find out!

This is a thoroughly entertaining, funny and heartwarming book. I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

Rating:
Summary: More, Please!
Review: My only complaint about this novel is that there isn't a follow up. I couldn't put it down and was sorry when I finished it. Best book I've read all year, and that includes 'Empire Falls'. The characters come alive and are believable - although some of the action is a bit overblown and hard to swallow. But hey, it's fiction. I've known people like this, and I'm just glad that I don't know any like Merle or the sheriff at this moment. It's a bit like 'Smokey and the Bandit' but more fun.

Rating:
Summary: Great characters, great read!
Review: You'd think the last place a young Harvard educated actor would want to end up - an actor who'd just bombed out in Hollywood and swindled out of his last dime -- is West Texas. Penniless, Erwin Vanderveer, now nicknamed "Harvard" by his new employer and wildcatter extraordinaire, Merle Lusky, plans to make enough money to find his way back to Boston, the place he calls home. He discovers, however, that Merle has different plans for him - to make him his savior from losing his oil business. Even though the task seems impossible for him, Harvard accepts the offer mainly because the money is too good to turn down. Overwhelmed by the culture and dialect, which the author portrays creatively and possibly authentically, Harvard develops an affinity for his new friends, especially when Merle presents a gift to him, a pair of brown lizard skin boots, or "Chocolate Lizards," as Merle calls them. Fascinated with the boots and his new friends, Harvard sets out to help Merle accomplish his dream, not knowing what is in store for himself. Not a literary masterpiece by any means, but a tremendously entertaining book, with a laugh out loud kind of allure and first-rate characterization. CHOCOLATE LIZARDS will keep you in stitches to the final word.