Devil's Food: A Loretta Kovacs Thriller

by Anthony Bruno

Book Overview

"Bruno's characters are more than just quirky dressing for the plot... it moves fast and furious, but along the way his characters' struggles with their own doubts and failings anchor the reader to them." - The Nashville Banner In Devil's Food, the first book in the Loretta Kovacs thriller series, it's make-it-or-break-it time for zaftig Loretta when she's assigned to the ragtag Parole Violators Search Unit, a.k.a. the Jump Squad. All her buttons...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595528813
• ISBN13: 9780595528813
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent! Loretta and Frank rule!

It's wacky! It's wild! It makes you hungry! It makes you laugh out loud! And it even tugs at your heart strings! Join in the fun as chunky Loretta(one tough mama with 'tude) and greaseball Frankie(sexy, sensitive, vulnerable, and Italian!) race to a fat farm to bring back a parole violating gal.What makes this such a great hilarious book is the characters. All oddballs. And kudos to the author for dealing straightforwardly with such issues as obesity and dying.It's a fast read and romp. Pick it up. You won't be disappointed. After all, who can not break into squeals of laughter when the the female lead refers to her partner as a "slaphappy chipmunk."

Devil's Food is delicious!

Though I can see how some readers may feel uncomfortable about reading the passages about Frank's sorrow over his dying wife, I'll have to say that Tony Bruno is a warm kind human to be abel to deal with this issue of dying family members with taste and heart. The rest of the novel is just too good to describe, without at least doing it severe injustice. Just grab yourself a copy of this baby and enjoy! Mamma Mia!

Food and humor make the book.

Two things especially work to make Devil's Food standout in the genre mastered by Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen. They are the novel's food oriented humor and its food obsessed heroine. No chapter is complete without food references, which range from catalogs of high cholesterol munchies to satirical jabs at the tiny, tasteless portions served to the hungry dieters at a fat farm. Anthony Bruno, the author, is especially good at caricature. He manages the difficult feat of making believable and hilarious such characters as the hunted, calculating parole violator, her sidekick motorcycle hit man, and her unctious, hypocrital boss, the head of the fat farm. This book would be a ten were it not for the teary, dreary sub-plot stuff about the heroine's partner and his dying wife

a woman's job looks like it will end in disaster/death

New Jersey parole officer Loretta Kovacs is in the dumps. Her career is spiraling downward as fast as her personal life has collapsed. Her seemingly last opportunity to jump-start her career is with the "Jump Squad", a law enforcement group that goes after parole violators. Her partner is Frank Marvelli, a veteran of the squad. Their first case is to locate Martha Lee Spooner, an embezzler, working a scam at a Florida fat farm. This seems to be a simple collar. However, in Loretta's current world, there is no such word as simple. A hit man and the IRS become involved in the case. Loretta goes undercover, enjoying the sauna as much as anyone can who knows their job is on the line. If she and her partner fail to bring in Martha Lee, they may find themselves seeking employment elsewhere. DEVIL'S FOOD is an exciting ride full of several twists and turns that Disney might want to consider adopting it for his amusement parks. Loretta is a great character because her problems are our problems. The story line is fast paced and the dialogue is classic Joisey. Do we hear the clamor of a continual series? Fans will plead with Anthony Bruno to start one starring Frank and Loretta. Harriet Klausner