- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: St Martin's minotaur; Reprint edition (25 April 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 031237867X
- ISBN-13: 978-0312378677
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 16 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,684,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"* "Endlessly entertaining... sure to appeal to Elmore Leonard fans." - Publishers Weekly."
Product Description
Small-time Long Island criminal, Johnnie LoDuco, gets involved with some friends who rob a convenience store. Too stoned to make a getaway, they pin all the blame on him. When his childhood buddy Vinnie bails him out of jail, he agrees to partake in a get-rich quick scam Vinnie has put together. The only problem: while out fishing one-day Johnnie reels in the biggest catch of his life...Vinnie's head on the end of the line. Now mafia types, bounty hunters, and Vinnie's girlfriend are after him. They all seem to want Vinnie's head, but Johnnie seems to have misplaced it in an ice cooler - and if he wants to live he needs to get it back.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
15 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
An over-the-top, darkly comic debut
13 Mar 2007
Format:Hardcover
Seamlessly interweaving humor into a crime novel is no easy trick. Few authors can pull it off, and fewer still can do it successfully with their first novel. Marc Lecard has done it, however, with "Vinnie's Head", as darkly humorous and entertaining a novel as you'll likely read this year.
Johnnie LoDuco tries his best, but he isn't a very successful criminal. He's been accused of a robbery he didn't even commit, and has been forced to go on the lam. That's when his luck really turns bad. While fishing on Long Island Sound, he inadvertently catches the severed head of Vinnie McCloskey-Schmidt, his best friend and partner in crime.
That discovery sets off a madcap series of adventures, which have Johnnie being chased by a motley crew of mobsters, bent cops and a serial killer who really loves his Mommy. The whole thing would be ridiculous if it weren't so well done and so damn hilarious.
"Vinnie's Head" is not for every taste, but it's definitely for people who like their crime funny, brutal and over-the-top. Lecard is a true find.
Johnnie LoDuco tries his best, but he isn't a very successful criminal. He's been accused of a robbery he didn't even commit, and has been forced to go on the lam. That's when his luck really turns bad. While fishing on Long Island Sound, he inadvertently catches the severed head of Vinnie McCloskey-Schmidt, his best friend and partner in crime.
That discovery sets off a madcap series of adventures, which have Johnnie being chased by a motley crew of mobsters, bent cops and a serial killer who really loves his Mommy. The whole thing would be ridiculous if it weren't so well done and so damn hilarious.
"Vinnie's Head" is not for every taste, but it's definitely for people who like their crime funny, brutal and over-the-top. Lecard is a true find.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A Few Chuckles
4 Jan 2008
Format:Hardcover
Johnnie LoDuco isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but he does have dumb luck on his side. After fishing best friend Vinnie's head out of a river near Long Island, Johnnie finds himself in a real pinch. Already on the lam from the cops for a convenience store heist he didn't commit, he now has to decide what to do with his buddies disembodied body part.
The head is the driving force behind everything else that happens in the story. Johnnie carries the head around, locks it in a freezer, even stuffs it in a carrying cooler. And death follows the head. Gangsters, a beautiful fem fatale named Jennifer Smeals, dirty cops, and a pretty young thing that Johnnie falls for named Patrice. On top of this, Johnnie has to try and avoid a bounty hunter named Stosh who's dedication to his profession astonishes both character and reader.
But why is everyone interested in the head? Especially Jennifer Smeals and a local thug named Malatesta? Close examination of it by Johnnie and Patrice reveal nothing except noxious odors. But Paraguay, smut books, computer programs and deadly folk all play a part in what lay ahead for Vinnie's head.
There's a lot of dry wit (perhaps too dry) in author Marc Lecard's debut comedy crime-noir novel but with an ending plot that is -- unfortunately -- over-the-top. Death and redemption go hand-in-hand as Johnnie discovers all of the cons within cons that are designed to divest him not only of money, but probably his life. The overly-complicated ending plot wrap-ups didn't fit well with the dumbed-down LoDuco (the story is told in first person via Johnnie) whom most readers will probably sympathize with and get angry at for not seeing what's right under his nose.
That said, the story is a breezy read (up until the end) and has some chuckle moments but nothing that'll cause serious belly laughs.
A fun read that most readers should be able to finish in one or two sittings.
The head is the driving force behind everything else that happens in the story. Johnnie carries the head around, locks it in a freezer, even stuffs it in a carrying cooler. And death follows the head. Gangsters, a beautiful fem fatale named Jennifer Smeals, dirty cops, and a pretty young thing that Johnnie falls for named Patrice. On top of this, Johnnie has to try and avoid a bounty hunter named Stosh who's dedication to his profession astonishes both character and reader.
But why is everyone interested in the head? Especially Jennifer Smeals and a local thug named Malatesta? Close examination of it by Johnnie and Patrice reveal nothing except noxious odors. But Paraguay, smut books, computer programs and deadly folk all play a part in what lay ahead for Vinnie's head.
There's a lot of dry wit (perhaps too dry) in author Marc Lecard's debut comedy crime-noir novel but with an ending plot that is -- unfortunately -- over-the-top. Death and redemption go hand-in-hand as Johnnie discovers all of the cons within cons that are designed to divest him not only of money, but probably his life. The overly-complicated ending plot wrap-ups didn't fit well with the dumbed-down LoDuco (the story is told in first person via Johnnie) whom most readers will probably sympathize with and get angry at for not seeing what's right under his nose.
That said, the story is a breezy read (up until the end) and has some chuckle moments but nothing that'll cause serious belly laughs.
A fun read that most readers should be able to finish in one or two sittings.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Dark, twisted, and funny
19 Feb 2011
Format:Hardcover
Vinnie's Head, a novel by Marc Lecard, gets its title from the fact that the severed head of Vincent McCloskey-Schmidt features prominently throughout -- usually, but not always, in a trash bag or a picnic cooler.
If you think that suggests this book is rather on the twisted side, you're right.
I've never read much crime fiction, but I gave this one a try on the recommendation of my friend Fred, who happens to know the author. Fred had earlier gotten me and Heather hooked on the novels of Christopher Moore, and he told me he thought Lecard's style of writing, though in a different genre, would appeal to someone who likes Moore.
Vinnie's Head falls into the bumbling criminal sub-genre. The main (non-decapitated) character is Johnnie LoDuco, known to some people as Kenny Moleri and to others, as it turns out, as Vinnie McCloskey-Schmidt. Johnnie, ex-con, bond-jumper, and general wrong-place-at-wrong-time person, goes fishing one day and reels in, to his dismay, his friend Vinnie's head. Now, anyone else might have thrown it back, or taken it to the police, or left it under a bush for someone else to discover, but not Johnnie. Vinnie was his friend, and Johnnie feels responsible for him, or at least for his head. And as for the police, no, he doesn't want to talk to them.
So the head comes home with Johnnie, and next thing you know, everyone -- Vinnie's girlfriend, organized crime, a bounty hunter, a video store clerk, and a serial killer with his own head collection -- has taken an interest in Johnnie and his prize catch. So what are they all after? Generally not what they say they are, of course.
Fred was right: the dark humor here reminded me a lot of Moore, and so did the motley characters and screwball plot. I liked this book a lot. This was Lecard's first novel and it was an impressive debut. Now I'm reading his second. It should be fun following his future career.
If you think that suggests this book is rather on the twisted side, you're right.
I've never read much crime fiction, but I gave this one a try on the recommendation of my friend Fred, who happens to know the author. Fred had earlier gotten me and Heather hooked on the novels of Christopher Moore, and he told me he thought Lecard's style of writing, though in a different genre, would appeal to someone who likes Moore.
Vinnie's Head falls into the bumbling criminal sub-genre. The main (non-decapitated) character is Johnnie LoDuco, known to some people as Kenny Moleri and to others, as it turns out, as Vinnie McCloskey-Schmidt. Johnnie, ex-con, bond-jumper, and general wrong-place-at-wrong-time person, goes fishing one day and reels in, to his dismay, his friend Vinnie's head. Now, anyone else might have thrown it back, or taken it to the police, or left it under a bush for someone else to discover, but not Johnnie. Vinnie was his friend, and Johnnie feels responsible for him, or at least for his head. And as for the police, no, he doesn't want to talk to them.
So the head comes home with Johnnie, and next thing you know, everyone -- Vinnie's girlfriend, organized crime, a bounty hunter, a video store clerk, and a serial killer with his own head collection -- has taken an interest in Johnnie and his prize catch. So what are they all after? Generally not what they say they are, of course.
Fred was right: the dark humor here reminded me a lot of Moore, and so did the motley characters and screwball plot. I liked this book a lot. This was Lecard's first novel and it was an impressive debut. Now I'm reading his second. It should be fun following his future career.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
