Chocolate Lizards

by Cole Thompson

When a Havard educated aspiring actor loses all his cash during a bus-ride poker game, he finds himself stranded in Abiles, Texas, broke and desperate. Enter Merle Luskey, a hard-drinkin', tough-talkin', oil-lovin' wild-catter who just happens to have a job opening. Merle has a proposition for his new friend. He needs a rat-killer, someone smart enough to help him outwit the bank, the sheriff, and a rival drilling company in a frantic race to hit pay dirt before the foreclosure goes through.

Genres: Fiction

250 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1999

Reviews

[Tom Mooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wild, fun, fast page turner. But not the highest quality.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was browsing in the library, the name caught my attention, the cover drew me in, and the front flap description guaranteed that I took this book home. It is not what I usually read, but I really enjoyed the characters, and the situations. Very satisfying book about an innocent but stranded traveler, and eccentric but determined wildcatter in the oil business, and some very beautiful and unique cowboy boots.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I randomly picked up this book and loved it. It's about a couple roughneckers(or whatever you call people who drill for oil)from TEXAS. Freaking hilarious. If I produced movies I would totally make this into a movie. I'd case Vince Vaughn for sure. Read a long time ago..wold like to re-read.

[Kay J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started reading this ironically because of the movie that recently came out, but I ended up getting invested until the character Tex-Ann was introduced. There was a super long chapter in the book that included her and it was basically porn.. so that’s nice. It was very off-putting and also unnecessary. I ended up skipping the chapter and didn’t lose any plot. It was just gross.

I don’t know if she turned me off or what, but the story became uninteresting after that. The protagonist is the only likeable character in the story tbh.

Rare moment where the cheap film is a lot better than the cheap story.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice light and quick summer read

[Kennedy Spitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Really cinematic though.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better books I have read this year. Far from a literary masterpiece, this is the story of a guy on his way home to Boston. He loses all his money in a card game and winds up stranded in Abilene, Texas. He is befriended by a Jack Daniels guzzeling man who owns a drilling company and gives him a job as a roughneck. Turns out the bank is about to foreclose on the company. A crooked sheriff, heartless banker and grizzled roughnecks add to the array of characters as they devise a plan to get the money needed to pay the bank. Very good book.

[Dan Piette]

West Texas Oil Bidness

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, shame the rest of the book didn't live up to the fantastic opening chapter.

[Steven Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny, enjoyable read.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in Texas and living with a father in the oil bidness, this was a laugh out loud story for me. The colloquialisms are spot on.