Make Up Your Own Escape from Cruel Reality with 'Scarecrow '

Review of SCARECROW (Macmillan Audio 2004)
By guest blogger Star Lawrence
Author, Matthew Reilly; read by Scott Sowers

Who can afford the movies? If you like big "whammies" (what moviefolk call explosions and crazy stunt gags) go to the library and get the CD version of SCARECROW, by Matthew Reilly. This is a series, I take it, though this was my first outing with this crazy Marine with scars vertically across both eyes making him look like a . . . Scarecrow.

The books starts out over-the-top so you know what you're in for—and then amps it up and up and up, until I was jumping around my bed, scaring my animals, and yelling, "Nuh-uh!!" and "Go, go."

In this one, Scarecrow is on a hit-list of people evil financiers (we can relate to that as the new enemy, right?) want taken out by some bounty hunters, one of whom is called The Black Knight. Turns out the Black Knight . . . well, I won't spoil it for you . . . let's just say, he's quite a character, too.

Scarecrow and his merry crew get into totally, completely, and utterly unbelievable jams and zip out the other side. Let me just mention a few tantalizing buzzwords—missiles, sharks, guillotine, sinking super tanker, pistol versus fighter plane, afterburner as torture device, and my favorite—Jeep catapulted off an aircraft carrier. If the latter ever comes up in your life—here's a hint—jump out before it hits the water.

Scott Sowers is a good, solid reader, nothing fancy, but he doesn't get in the way of the action, either.

You may stop reading my reviews, but sue me, my tastes are eclectic. Some days, English comedy of manners, the next, SCARECROW! How come these guys can get shot, burned, bitten, shattered and can make do with a Tylenol?

You mean it's just fiction?

Nuts.

Star Lawrence owns the health humor blog Health's Ass, now available for Kindle. Go to http://healthsass.blogspot.com. She can be reached at jkellaw@aol.com.