Plugged by Eoin Colfer

Title: Plugged
Author: Eoin Colfer
ISBN: 978-0755379989
Publisher: Headline
First Published: May 2011
No. of Pages: 288

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (Amazon):
Dan, an Irishman who’s ended up in New Jersey, finds himself embroiled in a world of murder, kidnapping and corrupt cops.

Dan works as a bouncer in a seedy club, half in love with hostess Connie. When Connie is murdered on the premises, a vengeful Dan finds himself embroiled in an increasingly deadly sequence of events in which his doctor friend Zeb goes mysteriously missing, a cop-killing female cop becomes his only ally, and he makes an enemy of ruthless drug-dealer Mike Madden. Written with the warmth and wit that make the Artemis Fowl novels so irresistible, though with additional torture and violence, PLUGGED is a brilliant crime debut from a naturally gifted writer with a huge fan base.

Review:
From the man who brought us Artemis Fowl comes a novel strictly for the grown-ups. This is no pre-teen criminal mastermind pitted against fairies – instead we have a prematurely balding ex-army doorman who finds himself plunged into a situation beyond his control and outside his comfort zone. And it’s not bad. Really, it’s not bad at all, but I still kept expecting Artemis Fowl to crop up in the story somehow – I just couldn’t get it out of my head while I was reading!

I felt this new, more adult offering wasn’t quite as finely honed as Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series, but there’s definitely potential for a whole new series here. McEvoy is a likeable character and I desperately wanted him to succeed – I wouldn’t mind seeing him again in another story.

There was sometimes a little too much happening all at once, and sometimes not enough happening to keep the pace racing, so it occasionally felt a little halting, but not enough to spoil things, and if things were sometimes a little garbled, it all became clear as things went on, so there was balance come the end.

At under 300 pages, it’s a little shorter than I thought it could have been, but if you like Colfer’s style, this is definitely worth a try.

Reviewed by Kell Smurthwaite