Adventures of Smythe

Rating:
Summary: Soul in torment...
Review: It would be easy to write Smythe off as an oversexed coward with the morals of jackal but the old rascal does come alive on the pages and the author, a proper English gent by the sound of him, does take it out of him something rotten. As in the author's other works - Oriental Henry and Happy Henry - the peculiar British sense of humour takes some getting used to but as long as you don't take it too seriously, the old stiff upper lip does quiver on occasion.

Rating:
Summary: What a major disappointment!
Review: Xlibris soiled their reputation by publishing this novel. First, the actual book is poor quality; the printing is done on crummy paper, with a low cost cardstock cover. Second, the actual story is complete filth. The author recycles his most funny lines from previously published stories and fills in the empty spaces--where plot should be--with drunken bar scenes and sordid prostitute scenes.

I ordered this book after reading the "Happy Henry" short-stories that George Lee wrote about motorcycling. Those stories were clean and had witty characters. This book was a severe disappointment. I kept hoping it would get better, but instead it became worse with every page. George Lee felt it was necessary to insert one sleazy sexual encounter after another, which ends up being approximately one per every five pages.

I think George Lee was trying to write a detective novel. The story turns out as a sad depiction of an unlikable protagonist. The main character Smythe makes frequent jokes about abandoning his wives because they got fat. He makes a game out of avoiding his child support payments and running away from his ex-wives to bars where the protagonist attempts to pick up prostitutes. The author treats the reader to a Deus Ex Machina ending in this very forgettable book.

Rating:
Summary: What a major disappointment!
Review: Xlibris soiled their reputation by publishing this novel. First, the actual book is poor quality; the printing is done on crummy paper, with a low cost cardstock cover. Second, the actual story is complete filth. The author recycles his most funny lines from previously published stories and fills in the empty spaces--where plot should be--with drunken bar scenes and sordid prostitute scenes.

I ordered this book after reading the "Happy Henry" short-stories that George Lee wrote about motorcycling. Those stories were clean and had witty characters. This book was a severe disappointment. I kept hoping it would get better, but instead it became worse with every page. George Lee felt it was necessary to insert one sleazy sexual encounter after another, which ends up being approximately one per every five pages.

I think George Lee was trying to write a detective novel. The story turns out as a sad depiction of an unlikable protagonist. The main character Smythe makes frequent jokes about abandoning his wives because they got fat. He makes a game out of avoiding his child support payments and running away from his ex-wives to bars where the protagonist attempts to pick up prostitutes. The author treats the reader to a Deus Ex Machina ending in this very forgettable book.