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A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand
A quirky tongue-and-cheek story about a detective with a difference, and it's not his caffeine addiction or his strange collection of friends. Through the course of three cases, Jones P.I. starts to discover that maybe he doesn't know everything about life, love and everything. Syn Island a manmade island created as a maximum security prison when left for a few generations becomes one of the world's strongest economies, exporting brain power and work ethic. Now, it's a city like any other filled with jazz, crime mobsters and dark alleyways, and it lends itself to a few night-time adventures. Like all good detective stories, this one starts with a woman in a red dress, and as we follow our hero through a strange maze of misunderstandings, mistresses and bars we start to learn that a little bit of crazy is what will keep you sane on the streets of Syn Island. And then of course there's Jeff...
260 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2010
About the author
D I Jolly
14 books99 followersGood Morning.
I wanted to be a writer since before I could actually read, when I first started playing a video game called Gabriel Knight Sin of the Father. I thought (and still think) that he was the coolest guy I'd ever seen and I wanted to be him when I grew up. Writer, bookstore in New Orleans, the works.
I live in Berlin now so I didn't get it totally on the mark but I have written and had published 12 books, and very much like Gabriel Knight, without anyone having really noticed. Well not yet anyway.
I wanted to be a writer since before I could actually read, when I first started playing a video game called Gabriel Knight Sin of the Father. I thought (and still think) that he was the coolest guy I'd ever seen and I wanted to be him when I grew up. Writer, bookstore in New Orleans, the works.
I live in Berlin now so I didn't get it totally on the mark but I have written and had published 12 books, and very much like Gabriel Knight, without anyone having really noticed. Well not yet anyway.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 14, 2024
I will forever love this as my first complete novel.
It's not perfect, but it's the first step.
That said I do still think it's the funniest thing I've ever written and Jeff might be the most creative thought I've ever had. I love this book, I will always love this book.
It's not perfect, but it's the first step.
That said I do still think it's the funniest thing I've ever written and Jeff might be the most creative thought I've ever had. I love this book, I will always love this book.
September 6, 2016
Highly Recommended
October 5, 2016
A funny crazy read that I finished in a day.
Crawl into the mind of Jones PI and get a strange insight into what must be going in in the authors head.
I literally laughed out loud while reading this book which is rare and wonderful
Crawl into the mind of Jones PI and get a strange insight into what must be going in in the authors head.
I literally laughed out loud while reading this book which is rare and wonderful
June 27, 2017
I genuinely enjoyed reading A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand and I am becoming a big fan of D.I. Jolly. This book is a smorgasbord of genres and it was a hoot to read. When I was reading it, I thought of Dick Tracy but instead of being serious, this PI had a sense of humor….even when people were trying to kill him.
I truly liked Jones, even if he seemed to have a huge target on his back the entire book. He was a ladies man, had a thing for dark-haired women in tight red dresses, loved to drink and really liked jazz. He was also a softy. I mean, he protected Greg, a giant gorilla-like man who had the mind and soul of a child, and Sandra, the sister of the piano man of the bar that he used to go to. He also was one the few who were trying to protect Syn Island when everything went sideways.
I loved the action scenes in this book (and there were a lot of them). I have read a lot of romances lately and this book was a refreshing change of scenery for me.
The humor in this book was also a plus for me. I mean, a talking voodoo monkey hand named Jeff who talks with an English accent? I was rolling when he was talking to Jones and directing him on what to do. It was pretty funny. Plus, some of the situations he got himself into and the people he meets were pretty funny too.
Altogether, I really enjoyed the book. I liked that I got to see a seedier side of Syn Island than what was portrayed in the other books by D.I. Jolley. I am hoping that more books will be written with Jones in it.
How many stars will I give A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand: 4
Why: Memorable characters and a great plotline
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age Range: Adult
Why: Violence and language
**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**
I truly liked Jones, even if he seemed to have a huge target on his back the entire book. He was a ladies man, had a thing for dark-haired women in tight red dresses, loved to drink and really liked jazz. He was also a softy. I mean, he protected Greg, a giant gorilla-like man who had the mind and soul of a child, and Sandra, the sister of the piano man of the bar that he used to go to. He also was one the few who were trying to protect Syn Island when everything went sideways.
I loved the action scenes in this book (and there were a lot of them). I have read a lot of romances lately and this book was a refreshing change of scenery for me.
The humor in this book was also a plus for me. I mean, a talking voodoo monkey hand named Jeff who talks with an English accent? I was rolling when he was talking to Jones and directing him on what to do. It was pretty funny. Plus, some of the situations he got himself into and the people he meets were pretty funny too.
Altogether, I really enjoyed the book. I liked that I got to see a seedier side of Syn Island than what was portrayed in the other books by D.I. Jolley. I am hoping that more books will be written with Jones in it.
How many stars will I give A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand: 4
Why: Memorable characters and a great plotline
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age Range: Adult
Why: Violence and language
**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**
April 8, 2018
A Guy, A Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand - Written by DI Jolly
Bone tingling funny with lots of action!!!!
A quirky tongue-in-cheek story about a detective with a difference, and it's not his caffeine addiction or his strange collection of friends. Through the course of three cases, Jones P.I. starts to discover that maybe he doesn't know everything about life, love, and everything. Syn Island a man-made island created as a maximum-security prison when left for a few generations becomes one of the world's strongest economies, exporting brainpower and work ethic. Now, it's a city like any other filled with jazz, crime mobsters, and dark alleyways, and it lends itself to a few night-time adventures.
Like all good detective stories, this one starts with a woman in a red dress, and as we follow our hero through a strange maze of misunderstandings, mistresses, and bars we start to learn that a little bit of crazy is what will keep you sane on the streets of Syn Island.
What did I like? I have never laughed so hard…. The comical and entertaining stories will keep you enjoying all three cases.
What will you like? Murder, mayhem, humor, mobsters, and women will have you in stitches, but the storyline grows with every page. The characters are quirky, original and unusual but they make the story what it is. The details and descriptions are amazing, and I don’t think I have ever seen a Voodoo Monkey hand that had an English accent! Loved this book and will be adding it to my all-time library. Highly recommend this read. I borrowed this from Kindle Unlimited.
Bone tingling funny with lots of action!!!!
A quirky tongue-in-cheek story about a detective with a difference, and it's not his caffeine addiction or his strange collection of friends. Through the course of three cases, Jones P.I. starts to discover that maybe he doesn't know everything about life, love, and everything. Syn Island a man-made island created as a maximum-security prison when left for a few generations becomes one of the world's strongest economies, exporting brainpower and work ethic. Now, it's a city like any other filled with jazz, crime mobsters, and dark alleyways, and it lends itself to a few night-time adventures.
Like all good detective stories, this one starts with a woman in a red dress, and as we follow our hero through a strange maze of misunderstandings, mistresses, and bars we start to learn that a little bit of crazy is what will keep you sane on the streets of Syn Island.
What did I like? I have never laughed so hard…. The comical and entertaining stories will keep you enjoying all three cases.
What will you like? Murder, mayhem, humor, mobsters, and women will have you in stitches, but the storyline grows with every page. The characters are quirky, original and unusual but they make the story what it is. The details and descriptions are amazing, and I don’t think I have ever seen a Voodoo Monkey hand that had an English accent! Loved this book and will be adding it to my all-time library. Highly recommend this read. I borrowed this from Kindle Unlimited.
November 16, 2022
A very strange novel, D.I. Jolly's first book. It's funny and super weird and is the book that got me excited about this author. I personally love it, and it's a very comforting read for me.
If you want something silly and strange and a bit out there, I suggest you check this one out.
If you want something silly and strange and a bit out there, I suggest you check this one out.
April 28, 2020
Love the humor and a great read! Keep writing Mr Jolly!
June 4, 2021
This is a fun ride alongside Private Detective, Jones (who in my opinion could use a headbutt or 10). There are some great jokes in here :)
August 18, 2021
I wanted to like this book so much. I read the previous reviews, and was excited to read it. But this book has some serious problems. As mentioned in the title of this review, the first two pages of the book are solid. They set up for a story of humor like that of Lemony Snicket, with interesting characters and a quirky lifestyle. Then the story switches to first person, and everything goes wrong with the story.
I don't think that this book deserves the effort of writing full paragraphs to explain everything that made it a chore to finish, so I'll make a list. Otherwise, this might digress into rants about individual scenes that made me roll my eyes and audibly groan.
- Weird and chaotic things happen in this book, and since passersby never seem to have a reaction to them, the readers are led to believe that things like cars blowing up and people carrying grenade launchers on their back are normal. It's never stated or implied, but given the situations, the reader has no choice but to assume. Then, later, it is revealed that the things that happened would be the same as if they happened in present-day Chicago (due to the protagonist worrying about the fallouts of his actions). There is no continuity in the written universe about whether explosions and deaths are taken lightly or otherwise.
- The author attempts to shove every joke of which he thought into the book. I imagine that every joke that he thought of was included, and it really over-done. Some scenes would be funny without the parenthetical thought processes that are supposed to add humor that ruin the train of thought. If the author had not switched to first person, then it could have worked (like it did in the prologue), but with us reading into the mind of the character, it ruined the actual humor.
- The tone of the character is unclear throughout the entire book. The detective is written like a twenty-two year old college kid, but talks about past marriages and careers like he is supposed to be a grizzled fifty year old. Nothing about the character is grizzled, but the author tried really hard to convince us that the detective is seasoned, without ever succeeding.
- Characters make zero sense. There is no natural progression of characterization. The author simply puts feelings where he wants them, and doesn't lead them there. There is a girl whom he meet hours previously that he not only talks about flirting (which is fine, and even expected), but starts talking about "loving looks" between a mother and a father.
- Treats the rape of mentally autistic character as a gag point for two other characters. It treats the autistic person with zero nuance at all, and it very over the line of offensive.
- At one point, literally every single time a car starts, the detective gushes about how much he loves his car. It's an odd relationship to say the least, and nothing ever comes from it. There is never a point. I kept expecting it to simply be overdone foreshadowing, but it's not.
- "P.I. Sense" is just code for "I'm too lazy to actually come up with a reason or story for this, so I'll figure out this impossible task with 'PI sense'"
- The author tries to have so many strings that all connect into one web, but fails to make them connect in any way other than to say that they connect.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book. The premise is interesting, but the execution failed, and the poor writing and scattered characters just made the whole thing a mess.
I don't think that this book deserves the effort of writing full paragraphs to explain everything that made it a chore to finish, so I'll make a list. Otherwise, this might digress into rants about individual scenes that made me roll my eyes and audibly groan.
- Weird and chaotic things happen in this book, and since passersby never seem to have a reaction to them, the readers are led to believe that things like cars blowing up and people carrying grenade launchers on their back are normal. It's never stated or implied, but given the situations, the reader has no choice but to assume. Then, later, it is revealed that the things that happened would be the same as if they happened in present-day Chicago (due to the protagonist worrying about the fallouts of his actions). There is no continuity in the written universe about whether explosions and deaths are taken lightly or otherwise.
- The author attempts to shove every joke of which he thought into the book. I imagine that every joke that he thought of was included, and it really over-done. Some scenes would be funny without the parenthetical thought processes that are supposed to add humor that ruin the train of thought. If the author had not switched to first person, then it could have worked (like it did in the prologue), but with us reading into the mind of the character, it ruined the actual humor.
- The tone of the character is unclear throughout the entire book. The detective is written like a twenty-two year old college kid, but talks about past marriages and careers like he is supposed to be a grizzled fifty year old. Nothing about the character is grizzled, but the author tried really hard to convince us that the detective is seasoned, without ever succeeding.
- Characters make zero sense. There is no natural progression of characterization. The author simply puts feelings where he wants them, and doesn't lead them there. There is a girl whom he meet hours previously that he not only talks about flirting (which is fine, and even expected), but starts talking about "loving looks" between a mother and a father.
- Treats the rape of mentally autistic character as a gag point for two other characters. It treats the autistic person with zero nuance at all, and it very over the line of offensive.
- At one point, literally every single time a car starts, the detective gushes about how much he loves his car. It's an odd relationship to say the least, and nothing ever comes from it. There is never a point. I kept expecting it to simply be overdone foreshadowing, but it's not.
- "P.I. Sense" is just code for "I'm too lazy to actually come up with a reason or story for this, so I'll figure out this impossible task with 'PI sense'"
- The author tries to have so many strings that all connect into one web, but fails to make them connect in any way other than to say that they connect.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book. The premise is interesting, but the execution failed, and the poor writing and scattered characters just made the whole thing a mess.
October 29, 2016
This book is totally insane but made me laugh, it's not perfect but lovely really.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews