Rating: 
Summary: Fast moving action!
Review: A drug ring disguised as a game farm? What a great plot!
I couldn't put it down once started. The multiple sub-plots
all come together in a well crafted ending. Each character
was developed so completely that I could identify with their
motives (no matter how evil). The author pokes a little fun at the commercial game farms now replacing traditional open range deer hunting in some regions.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun!
Review: I picked this up due to cover blurbs which suggest that Rehder is "Texas' answer to Carl Hiaasen." Well, he may be in time, but not with this first novel. It's not a bad book, but just a bit too madcap for me. Basically, the book follows John Marlin (what an original name that is!) as he investigates a drug smuggling ring that uses the unique method of sewing up cocaine into the bodies of the prize game deer owned by a local businessman/political hustler who swindled his game ranch from one of Marlin's old friends. There are plenty of weird characters and a lot of forced hilarity, but the whole thing just didn't work for me. I think Rehder was trying way too hard with this book and I hope he'll ease up a bit if there's a second novel in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Tries Way Too Hard
Review: I picked this up due to cover blurbs which suggest that Rehder is "Texas' answer to Carl Hiaasen." Well, he may be in time, but not with this first novel. It's not a bad book, but just a bit too madcap for me. Basically, the book follows John Marlin (what an original name that is!) as he investigates a drug smuggling ring that uses the unique method of sewing up cocaine into the bodies of the prize game deer owned by a local businessman/political hustler who swindled his game ranch from one of Marlin's old friends. There are plenty of weird characters and a lot of forced hilarity, but the whole thing just didn't work for me. I think Rehder was trying way too hard with this book and I hope he'll ease up a bit if there's a second novel in this series.
Rating:
Summary: a fun adventure
Review: i'm glad that i picked this book up...it was great fun to read...the characters are real enough to become people whom you want to get to know better...the crazies are really crazy.....it was a fun adventure...peace mary
Rating: 
Summary: Good Humorous Thriller
Review: If ever there was an opening line to give a clear indication of the tone of the story that follows, Ben Rehder delivers it in BUCK FEVER with this little gem:
"By the time Red O'Brien finished his thirteenth beer, he could hardly see through his rifle scope."
From this opening, which I found particularly amusing, Rehder introduces us to the local inhabitants of Blanco County in all their colourful glory while a seemingly innocuous deer sighting turns the county on its head with the all-important opening day of hunting season fast approaching.
As hunting season's opening day approaches, game warden John Marlin's hands are full with over-eager hunters getting a head-start on proceedings. When Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock do a spot of illegal spotlighting while drunk one evening, they accidentally shoot a biologist who happened to be performing an experiment while impersonating a deer. (I know...it seems weirder than it actually is). When Marlin is called out along with the usual ambulance, sheriff and other assorted crime scene specialists, their attention is completely taken by the strange antics of a buck who is behaving in a very un-deer like manner.
Marlin's solution is to capture the buck and take it home so that he can keep it under observation, unaware of the fuss and anxiety this would cause with certain members of the community. The property from which the buck was taken was Roy Swank's Circle S Ranch. Now, Roy Swank is a rich businessman / ex-political head kicker and is your typical unscrupulous operator who doesn't care who he walks all over in order to get what he wants. He has turned the Circle S into a very successful deer farm, producing prime animals for each year's hunting season. It's Swank who is almost apoplectic when he learns that Marlin has taken the buck and goes to extreme measures to get it back.
The reaction from Swank, which was way over the top for the loss of a single deer, was enough to make John Marlin just a little suspicious. A couple of further incidents go a long way toward confirming those suspicions and suddenly, Marlin knows just enough to make life dangerous for himself. There is also the matter of a Colombian man who has just hit town. We know he's related to the Circle S Ranch, but the question is how. One thing's for sure, you wouldn't want to get on his bad side.
Where Ben Rehder excels in this book is in the portrayal of his characters and their small-town attitudes and idiosyncrasies. He really makes you care about his characters. For comic relief he gives us Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock, two bumbling rednecks who truly believe they are cunning go-getters riding on the edge. Although their every step is punctuated by a mistake, they turn out to play a couple of the most important roles in the book. Every small town seems to have a filthy rich, morally reprehensible bully-boy who has the local sheriff in his pocket making life difficult for everyone while he lives off his ill-gotten gains. Roy Swank plays this role to a tee, although it must be said, a few of his decisions makes it difficult to believe he ever rose to the position of power he now holds.
One of the characters who had a rather minor role here, but who has great potential to be developed in future books is Deputy Bobby Garza. Not only is he an insightful lawman, he is an honest and interesting character who moves the story along quickly and without fuss. Finally, there's game warden John Marlin, a hard-working, much admired single man who is just plain honest. He reminds me a lot of C.J. Box's Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. Both men care more about doing the right thing rather than massaging egos or bowing to the rich and powerful, both make mistakes, usually with disastrous consequences and both have you rooting loudly for them.
BUCK FEVER ventures into dangerous waters with murderous outsiders who are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep their illegal plans secret skulking about. For all of this danger, though, there is a constant hint of humour to the tone of the narration that manages to keep the air light and breezy. To complement the light tone, the story moves along very briskly thanks to a narrow deadline set by Swank. This deadline provides the urgency to make it feel like there is always something important happening. It works very effectively here.
I found BUCK FEVER to be a very enjoyable humorous thriller that has introduced me to a place and to people with whom I would like to visit again. Fortunately there are two more books in the series that will allow me to do so - these being BONE DRY and FLAT CRAZY.
Rating:
Summary: Fever is Fun
Review: Never been on a hunt in my life of any kind. Bought this book out of curiosity.
LOVED it. Absolutely hysterical. If you do not like this book you need to lighten up. Most of the characters are exactly that, characters. Read the book in one long afternoon.
Not inclined to discuss the plot or the players. Just read it and enjoy.
Looking forward to reading others.
Rating:
Summary: Buck Fever
Review: See book description above. YeeeeHawwww! This was a fun one.
The writing was fast and furious. The story line original and outrageous. As a first novel, Ben Rehder has started out on the right foot. Keep up the good work.
If you're looking for something fun, yet not to serious, to read, be sure you give Rehder a shot. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A satirical but compelling character rich debut mystery
Review: Sometimes testimonials and covers can backfire. Unless the reader is a fan of the author writing the testimonial, they might be inclined to turn down reading the book thinking it is similar to the style of the testimonial writer. For example, Tim Dorsey wrote the front cover testimonial of this Edgar nominated debut effort of Ben Rehder. Dorsey compares Rehder to Hiaasen. Personally I don't like Tim Dorsey's books and Hiaasen is all right in limited doses. The only reason I picked up Buck Fever is the fact that it is a nominated book. Somewhat surprisingly, it is an edgy, crime novel that would be considered mildly comic at best-- nothing like Dorsey or Hiaason. It is a very good debut effort.
In Blanco County, Texas-- near Austin, it is a week before the start of deer hunting season. Things are gearing up at the Circle S ranch where they are about to let loose the high-paying hunters on their stock of deer. A couple of poachers trying to get a jump on the hunters shoot a deer and are surprised to see it is a man dressed up in a deer costume. Trey Sweeney, the man in the deer costume, is biologist doing field work and is a personal friend of Game Warden John Marlin. Marlin looks into the matter and notices a buck exhibiting odd behavior. He subdues the buck and brings it to the local vet to be examined. However, the buck is stolen after the vet is assaulted. Marlin wants to find out why. His investigation places him directly into the sights of some highly unsavory characters who certainly will kill without hesitating.
Ben Rehder is being billed as "the funniest crime writer in Texas". Let me state emphatically, this book is not that funny. The characters are a bit over the top but really no more so than many other debut writers. Rehder might have been trying to write a somewhat satirical novel about the deer hunting industry. Instead he wrote a compelling character rich atmospheric crime novel that is deserving of the Edgar nomination.
Rating:
Summary: Light, but fun
Review: There's not much depth to the characters, and the plot goes along fairly predictable lines...but you just can't help enjoying the book. I read it in one sitting and had a good time.
Rating:
Summary: Light, but fun
Review: There's not much depth to the characters, and the plot goes along fairly predictable lines...but you just can't help enjoying the book. I read it in one sitting and had a good time.
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