Pest Control by Bill Fitzhugh





Entertaining, but not his best work.

Originally published in 1996.

Fitzhugh specializes in filling his books with absurd characters in absurd situations. This is my third Fitzhugh book and I have to rank it in second. It is funny, but at times his characterization of New Yorkers as oblivious and callous to the violence that can be inherent in that city is even a bit much for me.
The premise of Pest Control is that a down and out exterminator who has come up with an entirely new way to control pests is confused for a professional hit man - a top level hitman. Soon, other top level hit men are swarming after the exterminator in an effort to eliminate the newest "star" in the hit man world.

 The overall premise is funny but the book somehow fails to hit the high level of promise that this reader anticipated. That said, this would be a heck of a good movie if you get the right actors involved.
If you've never read a Fitzhugh novel, I'd recommend Cross Dressing to start with instead.

 I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

 This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Pest Control.

 Reviewed on April 4, 2005.

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