by Larry Weiner
Kyle Brightman—late of the advertising industry and soon-to-be-late of the 5th floor psych ward—has a job offer he can’t refuse. A new resort in the Caribbean is looking for an art director. Kyle soon finds himself on the Isle of St. Agrippina working alongside a beautiful copywriter with an icy handshake. Questions arise: Why does the resort management team sport spray-on tans in the Bahamas? How can the resort offer such cheap vacation packages? What does one do with vats of Astroglide? To get the answers, Kyle must first navigate a series of wildly unpredictable events with a cast of even more wildly unpredictable characters, including a seductress jungle assassin, her partially paralyzed talking Chihuahua, an Ivy League Rastafarian seaplane captain, Kyle’s ex-psych ward roommate, a former Haliburton mercenary, and a French tavern owner with a fondness for goats, all set to the greatest hits of the 70’s. Pablo Cruise never felt so right.
My Thoughts
Paradise Rot was a fun read! The story is set on a Caribbean island, and on more than one occasion, I wondered if this story idea came to Larry Weiner as he sat relaxing on a beach with a fruity drink topped with an umbrella.
I love that we meet Kyle, the main character, in a mental institution. The entire story is filled with unconventional characters, which prove to be very entertaining.
I like the way Larry Weiner scatters the story with just the right amount of humorous moments without interrupting the suspense.
This was an interesting plot with witty dialogue, and an overall entertaining story.