Created by Norman Partridge
“Get your hands in the air…and give me that chihuahua!”
Former light heavyweight champ JACK “BADDLE AX” BADDALACH has lost his last match, so he’s not too fussy about taking the odd job from Freddy G., owner of the Casbah Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
And odd is the operative word here. In his only two appearances, Saguaro Riptide (1997) and The Ten-Ounce Siesta (1998), Baddle Ax gets to meet various oddities of nature, such as former movie star/war hero, a hitman with multiple personalities, a lesbian sherrif named Wyetta Earp, a bikini-clad former Olympic diver, a tatooed donut shop owner, an asthmatic Chihuahua, a Koran-quoting hitman, a machine-gun toting women in black leather and a rattlesnake-handling preacher. All in a day’s pay for Jack Baddalach.
There’s some great use of the desert setting, and the deadpan ironic style recalls writers such as Elmore Leonard and Ross Thomas, although the sheer over-the-top wackiness may suggest Carl Hiaasen to many.
Booklist says “Partridge writes with a rock beat-disco crossed with hard-slammin’ punk,” but I beg to differ.
Disco? No way, man…this is Rock’n’Roll turned up to eleven. Or maybe 12.3 even. A real hoot, and a Gonzo treat.
Highly recommended.
NOVELS
- Saguaro Riptide (1997) | Buy this book
- The Ten-Ounce Siesta (1998) | Buy this book
THE DICK OF THE DAY
- May 16, 2023
The Bottom Line: When the going gets weird, Baddle Ax is your man. In just two sun-baked gonzo classics, he tangles with more weirdos than a MAGA rally. Enjoy responsibly.
Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
Both books were also very Deja Tim Dorsey’s Serge Storms. I hope that some publisher reprints them.