About the Book:
This lively, intricately plotted, laugh-out-loud funny, and surprisingly touching family drama combines the wit of Carl Hiaasen with the southern charm of Jill McCorkle.
Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that had horrible consequences.
Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action. She high tails it to hot and humid Tallahassee, moves in down the block from where a now senile Spriggs lives with his daughter’s family, and begins the tricky work of insinuating herself into their lives. But she has no idea what a nest of yellow jackets she is stumbling into.
Before the novel is through, someone will be kidnapped, an unlikely couple will get engaged, someone will nearly die from eating a pineapple upside-down cake laced with anti-freeze, and that’s not all . . .
Told from the varied perspectives of an incredible cast of endearing oddball characters and written with the flair of a native Floridian, this dark comedy does not disappoint.
About the Author:
Elizabeth Stuckey-French is the author of the short story collection The First Paper Girl in Red Oak, Iowa. Her stories have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Gettysburg Review, Southern Review, Five Points, and other literary journals. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida, where she teaches fiction writing at Florida State University.
My Opinion:
Marylou Ahearn wants revenge.
Badly.
When she finds the target of her hate living peacefully in Florida she sets up housekeeping under a different name and starts to integrate herself into the family. Only there is one problem – her tormentor has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t remember a thing.
Or does he?
This book was a total hoot! Despite the dark topics involved in the plot it is written with a wry sense of humor that makes all of the murder/kidnapping/secret government testing seem justifiable. The characters build slowly as they tell their stories in chapters told in their voices.
The plot was fun – there is no other word for it. There were twists and turns and a hurricane to boot. Marylou is a bit touched but she has reason to be – whether that reason is how her life turned out or the radioactive cocktail she drank I have no idea but it sure made it a blast to follow her story. If you are looking for a good book that will make you chuckle and think, this is the book for you.
Thanks to the great folks at Doubleday Books two lucky readers will get to win a copy of this fun book.
How do you win? It’s easy!
But first some rules:
US only
No PO boxes
One copy per household
18 yrs old+
MANDATORY ENTRY:
Tell me if you have read anything by Ms. Stuckey-French. Be sure to leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win.
EXTRA ENTRIES:
The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady is available at Amazon.com
Disclosure: I received a gratis copy of The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady from Doubleday Books. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.
