DON'T FLOSS

A hapless detective clashes with violent drug dealers and renegade dentists in DeMicoli’s raucous adventure set in a town outside Oakland, California.

Down-on-his-luck private eye Hugo Picoli arrives at his storefront office to find a potential client waiting for him: Farrah Mason, who says that her husband, Jolly, a prominent dentist, has disappeared. Recently, Jolly’s mother, Lady Mason, drove her Rolls-Royce into a pole after being frightened by the antics of skateboarding teenager Mill Moffett. According to Farrah, the last time anyone saw Jolly “was when he dragged that Mill kid outta his trailer, stuffed him in the trunk, and sped off to who-knows-where.” Farrah hands Hugo $10,000 in cash and asks him to track her spouse down, suggesting that he look for clues at the Crowns Social Club, a hangout for the upscale dentist crowd. Before Hugo sets off on his new assignment, DeMicoli pauses to fill in details about the PI’s less-than-illustrious two-year career with the Soma Arbor Spring police department. Later, at the clubhouse, Hugo has some preliminary misadventures which result in him receiving gold veneers, and he’s offered a few magic mushrooms—giving the author the opportunity to take readers on a frenzied psychedelic ride. Like other episodes in the novel, it’s creative and colorful but challenging to follow. The main plotline revolves around a grudge involving the head of the nation’s largest dental floss manufacturer, but readers will quickly discover that the author indulges in digressions far too frequently. He also fills his cast with an assortment of misanthropic, garishly clothed characters with quirky names (including Veggie Dave, Chicky Smitt, and Gator Booth) that require a scorecard to keep straight. Still, tech-oriented readers are likely to enjoy the collection of imaginative devices that Picoli and his cop colleague Kirby Pocket design, such as an inflatable protective bubble that whisks someone out of a dangerous situation.

An inventive and humorous but overly chaotic read.