The Great American Boogaloo by Paul Flower
From his woodland bunker in Michigan, Bo ‘Big Bruddah’ Watts has assembled a scratch army of gun-toting militiamen, and he’s ready to use it. Rumours are circulating that the liberal, female President of the USA is going to fight climate change by banning beef, snatching the great American hamburger from the mouths of patriots. Big Bruddah missed the last militia uprising. That one, sparked by a conspiracy theory about a deadly virus and stolen cheese recipes, ended in failure when his now ex-wife, Miky Spike, stopped the potentially bloody conflict at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Wisconsin.
He is determined to stop the president, with the help of eccentric octogenarian Wilbur Tuttle, who runs Silver Eagle Security, the private military enterprise owned by the hapless former governor of Michigan, Bill Hoeksma.
The plan is to launch a coup in Tampa, Florida by kidnapping the President’s daughter and then installing Hoeksma as a puppet President.. With the support of Silver Eagle’s best men, Biig Bruddah and Tuttle hope to ignite the long-awaited insurrection militia members call the “boogaloo.” What could possibly go wrong?
About the author
Paul Flower was born and raised in Michigan and still resides there. He has been writing professionally for more than 40 years. While much of his career has been spent in advertising and marketing, he worked in broadcasting for a short time. Paul has one previously published novel to his credit, and his writing has appeared in national and regional magazines. He and his wife have four grown children and a rapidly evolving number of incredibly beautiful and intelligent grandchildren.
Review
The Great American Boogaloo’ is a riot of a book! As someone who is new to Paul’s work at first I was like ‘what am I reading?!’ But then when you realise that this is a merry caper wrapped up in a timely warning, it’s clear that this is an epic book. I devoured it and got some very weird looks when I starting laughing out loud as it’s something I rarely do. I laugh internally though - don’t worry I’m not some kind of psycho.
There were so many parts of this book that I love but I can’t talk about them really without spoilers. But let’s hope the sitting POTUS of this book happens - that would be my dream. What you do get is a full roster of characters that makes your jaw drop with their idiocy and a lively bunch of heroes out to save the day. Big Bruddah despite being a right wing conspiracy militia man was a finely drawn character full of nuances and just brilliant. I definitely want to read Paul’s other book now. I want to know about these characters previous lives and how the big cheese war went down.
However much that this book is satire it is also a timely reminder of the unrest and real divisions in American society. Let’s not forget the previous President and all that MAGA insantity. But when your countries citizens storm Capitol Hill you know your country is messed up. I think the rest of the world has just watched America the last six years with despair. Satire can punch a powerful message with their jokes and antics but it's the underlying themes that allow Paul to project his message - that of liberty, justice, free rights and basically the right to live in a society that doesn't instill fear into it's residents.
I can definitely see this book being portrayed on screen - hopefully a Coen brother’s film. Maybe it's the cows...... If you know you know!
Let me know if you read this one basically so I can start a wee fan club!
