June 29, 2009
Yesterday I read Oh Joe, a mystery by Michael Z. Lewin. I certainly did not pick the book for its rather silly title but rather for it being set in Indianapolis and on a houseboat: how intriguing, I thought to myself. The book has nice twists and turns in it and some endearing characters. Unfortunately the lead character, Joe of the title, is not so endearing but instead rather pathetic, of quite low intelligence, motivation, and discipline. Women fall all over him but why? I imagine he must be some kind of hunk because personality-wise, he is one big zero. Too bad Lewin never shared the details of Joe's looks and that he does share too, too many of Joe's inane thoughts about how he has to wean himself from sex with women to prove himself worthy of the one woman (really?) he loves, mother of little Joe. I sure hope little Joe mutates out of that gene pool, because his mother is no rocket scientist either. Okay, I know, brains aren't everything but this couple do not read, do not think much, and cannot converse about anything other than Joe keeping his heehaw in his pants, with occasional time-outs to discuss the life-threatening coma her mother is in, thanks to Joe and his idiocy in agreeing to house sit the houseboat of known criminal and lowlife George.
I did mention endearing characters and there are two: Cayenne, Joe's court appointed lawyer, and Steponkus, the cop who first fingers Joe for the murder of George and later helps to absolve him. Joe gives some thought to what hooking up with Cayenne and Steponkus would be like (not at the same time) and again, I've got to wonder: do all guys think about hooking up with every women they see? Or just really stupid guys? Maybe Joe was abandoned as a child (we hear zippo about his parents) or maybe he is so super-studley women have been all over all his life (again, zippo details on whether or why this could be true). Cayenne is way too smart and on the ball for Joe (I wish real life provided such fast-thinking, brilliant court-appointed lawyers) and Steponkus could crush him like an ant, big and brave as she is. I would love to read more mysteries involving those two and leaving Joe out entirely.
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