Pest on the Run

Big trouble and light hearted investigations…

A beautiful stage show star, come whore house madam, is suddenly foully murdered, despite her apparent gangster protection. A disgruntled Japanese business tycoon hires a hit man to assassinate Australia’s Prime Minister. An unbeatable game show contestant takes a recreational bungee-jump, only to have her rope break in what her friend thinks is dubious circumstances. Enter the low-life world of Paddy Pest, sometimes Private Investigator and sometimes secret agent for Australia’s spy bureau ASIO.
Pest is based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, though is very frequently an international traveler. He is a master of dubious disguises, and often manages to solve the case despite his shortcomings. Here is a world where virtually everybody has a rancorous underbelly, and where murder is a common life event, but where good will eventually win out (even if by fluke). These humorous short stories will beguile you, entertain you and make you chuckle.
Gerry Burke’s Pest On The Run: More Humorous Short Stories From The Paddy Pest Chronicles (iUniverse, c2012) is ideal for the lover of crime and murder mystery tales, but will also suit busy people looking for a witty amusement to fill a free hour or two.

Aussie super sleuth, Paddy Pest, creates mayhem and mischief as he battles crime, corruption and politically incorrect behavior. Many larger than life characters emerge as he bumbles his way around the globe, always supported by a smart and beautiful wing-person of the female kind. This collection of hilarious short stories takes Paddy up and down the east coast of Australia: to Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, London, Greece and the U.S. You’ll meet his drop-dead gorgeous companion, Stormy Weathers, as well as friends and foes such as bordello queen, Frankie Hogan, gay socialite, Jay Sniggle and Russian assassin, Nadia Nickoff, the minx from Minsk.
Gerry Burke is a native of Melbourne, Australia, and is a former advertising copywriter and Creative Director. In his retirement, he has had six books of short stories published, four of them concerning the deliciously wicked Patrick Pesticide aka Paddy Pest. Pest Takes a Chance and Pest on the Run were both finalists in the USA Best Book Awards in successive years (2011/2012).  His other works are: From Beer to Paternity, Down-Under Shorts, The Lady on the Train and Paddy’s People.
Gerry is single and lives in Melbourne. He is a hobby racehorse breeder and tries to incorporate this interest in his stories, whenever he can. 

Spoofs are a serious business in literature, particularly when murder is involved. Pulling off a send-up of hard-boiled detective and spy novels is like singing badly on purpose – it ain’t as easy as it looks. This volume of fifteen short stories, the third in a related series by Australian writer Gerry Burke, provides the reader with everything the crime spoof genre has to offer. Burke’s writing style is terse and the read is quick. There are no drawbacks to Pest on the Run that I can find, unless you don’t like crime spoofs. If you do, this is a simple, fun read, nicely done. Four stars.