Nancy, Book Review, *I Am The Messenger, *Markus Zusack

I read this book a month or so before starting The Project, but included it (and a couple of others) on my list on the strength of my First Rule #1:

Because I am so afraid of failing, that I can’t bear to start without having already started, I hereby roll the dates around a bit from 1 January, 2009 to 31 December 2014. Ok, that’s dumb. I know it is; fudging in four months like that.

Motivated by my Third Rule #1:

I’ll write and post a review for each book I read.

I'm coming up for air to write reviews (or in this case, paraphrase and link) because I'd like to cross a something off The List.

So, without further blah blah, my review of 'I Am The Messenger' by Markus Zusack.

Sitting at my kitchen table with a glass of wine, I wandered along with Ed Kennedy, an underage taxi driver and his argumentative friend Marv as they get drawn into a hilariously snarky quarrel about the use and abuse of Marv’s ancient blue Falcon. The car in question is illegally parked outside the same bank where Ed and Marv, and Ed’s best friend (with whom he is hopelessly in love) Audrey are lying face down on the floor. The robber is pretty small time: “useless” is, I believe the word that Ed uses in the first sentence, and that turns out to be his doom.

Ed Kennedy, no matter what he thinks of himself, is orders of magnitude more useful than than this bank robber. The author spends the rest of this charming book proving that to both the reader and to Ed himself.

Some days later, an envelope containing three addresses written on the back of a playing card is delivered. No instructions. Just three addresses on the Ace of Diamonds. What would you do if this happened to you? Right-oh, that's what Ed did too. He didn't sleep at all that night, and after a lot of thinking about it no one he knew seemed a likely suspect. In the morning he got up and went out on foot with The Doorman and a street map to find the addresses on the card.

All in all - two thumbs up, five stars and I'll read it again someday.

Full review including my favorite character, my favorite sentence, and my favorite assignment is here.