Did you like Viggo Mortensen in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE? What about Angelina Jolie in MR. AND MRS. SMITH or Uma Thurman in KILL BILL? Then you’ll love Victor Gischler’s SHOTGUN OPERA, a maniacally paced, over-the-top Grand Guignol of guns, killing, guns, more killing, more guns, more killing, and did I say there were guns involved? If shooting a gun is the aria in this opera, then they are sung well and loud, but perhaps the libretto needs a little tinkering.
Ex-hitman Mike Foley has a new life in the outback of Oklahoma. His days of killing are behind him, or so he thought until his nephew Andrew shows up out of nowhere. Andrew is in very serious trouble, with very serious assassins on his trail. In order to redeem himself, the old man Mike tries to help the young boy, but does so having very little knowledge of the circumstances or the forces that are arrayed against him. Of course, the professional killers track Andrew to his uncle’s locale, but everyone is surprised when it turns out that Foley still has a bit of the old hitman left in him. This is when the fun really starts.
And it is fun up to a point. It’s a very comic-book-style tale, with violence on top of violence that isn’t really trying for effect, but more to just lay down a baseline for the next outrageous thing that happens. The characters are all made out of Bruce Willis brand cardboard, dialogue is short and snappy, and the plot development seems completely unrealistic in a good, otherworldly sort of way. In other words, it’s a quick enjoyable read in paperback, but you’d be pissed if you bought it in hardback. Just put the gun away. –Mark Rose
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