Buck Fever: Blanco County Mysteries, #1
By Ben Rehder
3.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Edgar and Shamus Award finalist Ben Rehder's Blanco County comic mysteries have made best-of-the-year lists in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Field & Stream.
Buck Fever was nominated for the prestigious Edgar Award for Best First Novel.
Description: It's the week before deer hunting season, as close to a statewide holiday as you get in Texas, and the locals are getting restless. Game Warden John Marlin has his hands full with poaching complaints coming in faster than he can write out-of-season tickets. Then a call of a different sort comes in. A man dressed up in some sort of deer costume has been shot at the Circle S ranch, and witnesses are reporting a massive wild-eyed buck prancing about the pasture in a lovesick frenzy. Marlin's seen a lot in his years, but this is wilder than he could have imagined: the man in the deer suit is a good friend, and the whacked-out whitetail isn't exactly a stranger either. It's the beginning of a mad, frantic weekend in Blanco County, one that will see a few more men shot, an invasion by Colombians with more than hunting on their minds, and damn near the end of Marlin's life. Ben Rehder serves it all up with a huge helping of humor in this debut comic mystery that will firmly establish him as the funniest crime writer in Texas.
REVIEWS FOR BUCK FEVER:
"This debut novel is a complete success, tearing out of Texas chock-full of characters so nutty and events so strange it seems as if they must be real. The writing here is confident and vigorous; the tone is quintessentially Texan and relentlessly wry. There's sure to be a long career for this happy, wacky series."
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"This is a wild and crazy first novel, crowded with weird people, unusual relationships (both animal and human), and frequent humor that will appeal to fans of Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, and other comic mystery writers. Strongly recommended for most collections."
—Library Journal (Starred Review)
"It's been our pleasure to be among the first reviewers to take notice of several writers who eventually became best sellers, including Nevada Barr, Lee Child and Randy Wayne White. Ben Rehder has what it takes to join that group. Imagine Carl Hiaasen with a Texas accent…"
—Denver Post
"Briskly paced, amusing, spiced with deftly drawn good-old-boy portraits: an altogether promising debut."
—Kirkus Reviews
"…side-splitting…akin to the Tom Robbins style of humor writing."
—ESPN Outdoors
"Austinite Ben Rehder's debut novel is the summer's best find. With a nod and a wink to Carl Hiaasen, Rehder comes out swinging with a sardonic Tex-centric look at trophy deer hunters, beer-guzzling poachers, and Game Warden John Marlin—the man charged with keeping them all in line. Buck Fever is too fun to be legal."
—Texas Monthly
Ben Rehder
Ben Rehder is a native Texan and a resident of Austin. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1986, and then entered the field of advertising. Rehder is an avid hunter and outdoorsman, interests which have fueled his fiction and magazine writing. His Blanco County mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar, Lefty, and Barry Awards. He lives near Austin, Texas, where he was born and raised.
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Reviews for Buck Fever
64 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poachers and deer hunters and love stories. This is another great episode in the life of Blanco county's inhabitants. Marlin the game warden is vigilant against the poachers and protective of his friends. This is the second book I've read by Ben Rehder and I recommend him to anyone who enjoys a story based on odd and endearing characters.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well drawn characters, sense of humor, easy style, and a fast pace.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ben Rehder does characters well. His ongoing series of Blanco county shenanigans is always fun to read or listen to. This one is about drug smuggling on a hunting camp/ranch in the county. A corrupt local with an 'in' to local politicians obtains a ranch through devious means and begins to smuggle drugs by using game on his ranch. Not very plausible, but the back stories and characters who are in the story make it a fun read. Like bubble gum, enjoyable, and fun for a little while. Some of Ben's other works are better.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I had never heard of this book or the author before, but I found it on Amazon for the Kindle, and the description sounded kind of interesting. It was free, so I decided to take a chance. I'm glad I did.
This is the first in a series of Blanco county, Texas mysteries. It involves deer hunting season, deer ranching, drug smuggling, and just general corruption. In some ways, it reminds me of two of my favorite authors: Carl Hiassen and Tim Dorsey. Like Hiassen and Dorsey, Buck Fever is filled with humor, violence, romance, and general dumbassery. Of course, it's set in central Texas instead of Florida, and honestly, the comedy isn't as in-your-face as Hiassen's or Dorsey's. It's not as violent, or quite as funny, as Dorsey, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I lot of readers I've recommended him to don't like his books because of the violence. This series is something I think they would enjoy. There's a brief section where one of the main characters is pontificating about the benefits of hunting (and how to do it right) which might be unnecessary, but it's short and didn't interfere with the story much at all. A lot of readers may not even notice it.
So, if you're looking for a light comic mystery, I can highly recommend Buck Fever. As mentioned, I definitely recommend it to fans of Carl Hiassen and Tim Dorsey. I look forwarding to reading more of the series. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is entertaining tale about a Game Warden John Marlin who the week before deer season follows the trail of dancing deer back to a former lobbiest who now runs a game preserve. This preserve caters to the elite of Washington as well wealthy hunters from all over and it specializes in large bucks.
What Marlin finds involves drugs, corruption as well as a romantic interest which leads him into a TSTL moment. I am more accustomed to see these in foolish girls, this was a turn around. There is also some really dumb rednecks in the story who were a bit tiresome because no one that beer addled would be trusted by anyone.
I think this series may grow on me so I will try the next. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprisingly good for a free/cheap kindle book. Over the top characters, but I like that. I would not be adverse to reading another by this writer.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Western mystery...meh. Not even close to the Hillermans. No need to read beyond the first volume.