Brett Enters the Square Circle - Book Review

David D’Aguanno has penned another adventure of his wise guy talking private detective, Brett Cornell, who presents a conceited, façade to all of those he encounters. Underneath all the bravado, insolence, immaturity, shallowness and innumerable other terrible traits lies a lonely confused man who is discovering that now in his thirties he is not really the man he once was. Brett gets involved in a case of a missing woman who he discovers, as his investigation proceeds, has numerous serious health issues that make her disappearance even stranger.  It is a case he welcomes, because it gives him a windfall of money to squander and a beautiful damsel in distress to take advantage of for a short period of time. Or as Brett might say, “As any red-blooded American unscrupulous bastard would do.”  Brett is proud to proclaim the title of the most unscrupulous bastard in the town of Birchwood Rhode Island.  His new case is also one he relishes because it was brought to him by a couple of his antagonists from the Birchwood police force.

D’Aguanno lets Private Eye Cornell tell his own story in his own wiseguy vernacular with many of his statements punctuated with an expulsion of phlegm deposited at the feet of who he is conversing with. Brett has a colorful and humorous command of the English language which differs greatly from school taught English, but it deftly conveys his tale, his personality, and his fears. Brett also is geographically challenged, confusing Austria and Australia; in fact, declaring that they are basically the same and who cares. One thing Brett does care about is his reputation as a macho he-man to be reckoned with.  However, now his nemesis on the police force have matched him up with one of their fiercest animalistic skinhead boxers.   Brett, who fancies himself as a pugilist is burden with preparing for his bout with one of his most despised bullies on the police force, Gil Bailey. This boxing match is going to be a public fundraising tournament that could easily tarnish his reputation as a cocky egotistic womanizing unscrupulous bastard.

Private Eye Cornell considers himself a patriotic all American.  He is a very complex individual, he is perplexed with sexual diversity but doesn’t like anyone informing him of his close-mindedness, he has a big ego that makes his character’s klutziness even funnier.  In an attempt to maintain his cool macho façade he chain smokes, drinks beer while he works, fluffs his golden locks and struts around with the proverbial chip on his shoulder. At the same time, he demands unyielding loyalty of his love interest and even on things such as how much pulp his orange juice must contain. His life is usually in total chaos but somehow through all his ineptness and exaggerated view of himself he figures out the whodunit to the cases he takes on.  He is the Jacques Clouseau of Birchwood, Rhode Island.

If you like humorous, politically incorrect raucous entertaining stories, then David D’Aguanno, Brett Enters the Square Circle is a book you will enjoy. The audio version is even more entertaining because the narrator, Travis Henry Carter, appears to epitomize the Brett Cornell character.  With his wise guy vernacular and “Joisey” accent, he nails the unscrupulous bastard Cornell to the tee.