Irish Army veteran and New Jersey club owner Dan McEvoy is back in Eoin Colfer's Screwed, the tangled and witty follow-up to Plugged, here narrated by John Keating. When local mob boss Mike Madden summons Dan to settle a score, McEvoy knows that there has to be a catch. Going to Manhattan to deliver bearer bonds to a man from a rival gang in SoHo sounds deceptively easy, so it is no great shock when he discovers that his own untimely demise is part of the plan. As he works to avoid being whacked, Dan is kidnapped by two corrupt cops who cuff and taser him, demanding to know where an indescribable "package" is. McEvoy slips out of custody and makes it to Manhattan, only to learn that his aunt has gone missing. No doubt about it: Dan McEvoy is screwed.
Colfer presents a quirky, adventurous caper with a multi-layered plot, constant action and comical situations that, delivered through the brilliant reading of John Keating, will have the listener captivated and laughing out loud. Full of meta-theatrical observations--including allusions to Elmore Leonard--woven into a stream-of-consciousness style of narration, Colfer's prose keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end, while Keating's narration perfectly complements the Jersey atmosphere and adds another facet to Colfer's characterization. The humor, which sometimes borders on the absurd, softens the gritty style and occasionally raunchy dialogue. Fans of Leonard, and of Carl Hiaasen, are sure to enjoy the ongoing adventures of the quirky Dan McEvoy. --Sarah Borders, librarian at Houston Public Library