MacGuffin

Sometimes a book takes a while to get going. It starts slow, builds the world, and sets the stage. And then sometimes a book wastes no time in cutting off fingers and heads and generally making a mess of things. That’s the path taken by MacGuffin, a Hollywood-based noir that takes full advantage of its setting.

MacGuffin by [Roy Booth, John Mollard]

The title character is Rich MacGuffin and he’s got one goal: Hollywood stardom. He’s not going to win any beauty pageants, though, so he works in low-budget (or no-budget) horror films. He also helps out at a special effects company, all while going to auditions and hoping for a bigger opportunity.

But while MacGuffin is floating in kiddie pools and dreaming, there’s a murderer running amok in Hollywood. The FBI and the LAPD are busy trying to make connections between victims. The murderer has been around for decades, though, with no real clues. And then Christian Rivers, an A-list actor with an ego to match, goes missing in the middle of making a movie.

MacGuffin, being desperate to break into the big leagues, cocks a crazy plan: with the help of his friend in special effects, he will turn himself into a Rivers-look-alike. MacGuffin nails the impression, the directors are relieved they’ll be able to finish the film, and his new costars appreciate that “Rivers” has seemingly turned into a decent guy overnight.

All seems well except that the murderer is still running amok and definitely does not appreciate this second Rivers. It is literally a race to find the bad guys and save some lives and do it all under the bright lights of Hollywood.

In true noir fashion, the story is slightly complicated, the heroes have questionable moral character, and there’s not a lot of unnecessary fluff. There are lots of characters, many of whom have backstories and connections that aren’t obvious until much later in the book. But some of the characters could have been flushed out a little better (like Caroline, how did she get all mixed up in this?). The book moved almost too fast and might have benefitted from more description.

While technically it’s a whodunit for the good guys, readers will know who the bad guy is almost from the first page. Sometimes this can be detrimental – it takes away the mystery – but it works in MacGuffin. The story also bounces the point of view so readers can see perspectives from almost all the characters (I think *all* the characters actually get at least one little section from their point of view, which is nice yet sometimes confusing), and the fact that we know who the bad guys are makes their POVs especially worthwhile.

I really only have two very minor issues with MacGuffin. Or maybe three very minor issues.

All the POV changes, especially in the beginning, are a little confusing to keep straight. There are so many characters, and so many names to keep straight, and frequent POV changes . . . I found myself rereading early passages trying to understand everything. I eventually just decided to forge ahead and figure it out somewhere along the way (which I did). But there is a lot going on.

Who Said That GIFs | Tenor

Some of the characters’ verbiage is, well, sorta silly. In a 3-page span, characters said, “Uhhhn”, “Aaaahhhh”, “Aaacccckkkk”, “Unnhhh”, “Aaarrrgghh”, “Unnhhh”, “Aaarrrghh”, and “Aaaaaahhhhh”. Maybe it’s just me. I’d rather just see “they screamed” or “they groaned” without having to see it sounded out. For whatever reason, in my head, sounding it out just never works. Pretty sure I’m not supposed to find it funny when people are fighting for their lives.

And some of what happened just seemed . . . unlikely. Where does the bad guy get money to fund his evil operation? Where did the henchmen come from? Is a smelting facility really that convenient when you need to dispose of evidence? Is there an emporium somewhere that sells the things you need to store zombies? How good is the makeup that you can fool people into sleeping with you (and is everyone really the same height – like, seriously, how do they pull that off)? How can people dive from 13+ stories high into a lake full of branches and crap and nobody gets injured?

inconceivable - Inconceivable - quickmeme

So, like I said, some things are a little unlikely. I don’t hate these unlikely things but I find myself questioning these in the middle of reading, which detracts from the experience. If the book was playing in the fantasy or sci-fi realm or something, these things could be excused as part of the world; but MacGuffin is set – even if loosely – in a very real Hollywood environment. It just asked for too much faith.

But, overall, the book was solid and I enjoyed it. If you like noir and you’re not squeamish, it’s easy for me to recommend it.

Overall: 8/10

Discussion

  1. sex
  2. Ifc
  3. Josephwaw
  4. Josephwaw
  5. Josephwaw
  6. Josephwaw
  7. Josephwaw
  8. Josephwaw
  9. Josephwaw
  10. Josephwaw
  11. Josephwaw
  12. Josephwaw
  13. Josephwaw
  14. Josephwaw
  15. Josephwaw
  16. Josephwaw
  17. Josephwaw
  18. Josephwaw
  19. Josephwaw
  20. Josephwaw
  21. Josephwaw
  22. Josephwaw
  23. Josephwaw
  24. Josephwaw
  25. Josephwaw
  26. Josephwaw
  27. Josephwaw
  28. Josephwaw
  29. Josephwaw
  30. Josephwaw
  31. Josephwaw
  32. Josephwaw
  33. Josephwaw
  34. Josephwaw
  35. Josephwaw
  36. Josephwaw
  37. Josephwaw
  38. Josephwaw
  39. Josephwaw
  40. Josephwaw
  41. Josephwaw
  42. Josephwaw
  43. Josephwaw
  44. Josephwaw
  45. Josephwaw
  46. Josephwaw
  47. Josephwaw
  48. Josephwaw
  49. Josephwaw
  50. Josephwaw
  51. Josephwaw
  52. Josephwaw
  53. Josephwaw
  54. Josephwaw
  55. Josephwaw
  56. Josephwaw
  57. Josephwaw
  58. Josephwaw
  59. Josephwaw
  60. Josephwaw
  61. Josephwaw
  62. Josephwaw
  63. Josephwaw
  64. Josephwaw
  65. Josephwaw
  66. Josephwaw
  67. Josephwaw
  68. Josephwaw
  69. Josephwaw
  70. Josephwaw
  71. Josephwaw
  72. Josephwaw
  73. Josephwaw
  74. Josephwaw
  75. Josephwaw
  76. Josephwaw
  77. Josephwaw
  78. Josephwaw
  79. Josephwaw
  80. Josephwaw
  81. Josephwaw
  82. Josephwaw
  83. Josephwaw
  84. Josephwaw
  85. Josephwaw
  86. Josephwaw
  87. Josephwaw
  88. Josephwaw
  89. Josephwaw
  90. Josephwaw
  91. Josephwaw
  92. Josephwaw
  93. Josephwaw
  94. Josephwaw
  95. Josephwaw
  96. Josephwaw
  97. Josephwaw
  98. Josephwaw
  99. Josephwaw
  100. Josephwaw
  101. Josephwaw
  102. Josephwaw
  103. Josephwaw
  104. Josephwaw
  105. Josephwaw
  106. Josephwaw
  107. Josephwaw
  108. Josephwaw
  109. Josephwaw
  110. Josephwaw
  111. Josephwaw
  112. Josephwaw
  113. Josephwaw
  114. Josephwaw
  115. Josephwaw
  116. Josephwaw
  117. Josephwaw
  118. Josephwaw
  119. Josephwaw
  120. Josephwaw
  121. Josephwaw
  122. Josephwaw
  123. Josephwaw
  124. Josephwaw
  125. Josephwaw
  126. Josephwaw
  127. Josephwaw
  128. RobertDax
  129. RobertDax
  130. RobertDax

Leave a Reply