Action Men with Silly Putty

Jack Donegal Mysteries Book 1

Fiction - Mystery - Sleuth
212 Pages
Reviewed on 09/28/2016
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Susan Joy Clark lives in northern New Jersey. For the past 10 years, she has been a reporter in the area with North Jersey Media Group. She is the author of one other book, a YA novel, "And the Violin Cried." She plans to write several other Jack Donegal Mysteries as well as mysteries starring Grace Darby, a young English professor. Susan earned her BA in English in 1994 from Cedarville University. Although she has no problem at all with traditional books, she's in love with her Kindle because she can carry it with her everywhere ... even in line at the DMV. Some of her favorite authors are Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse. In private life, she's a puppeteer and singer. As a puppeteer, she works with such characters as Professor Votshisname. She's sung in choirs or musical groups perpetually for 30 years and is recently venturing out into trios, duets and solos. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She's the baby sister of three older brothers and an aunt to a lovely niece and five fantastic nephews.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Cheryl E. Rodriguez for Readers' Favorite

Susan Joy Clark’s Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery is a hilarious mystery adventure. Jack Donegal and Andy Westin are business partners and best friends. They are toy men, meaning that they are not short, but in the toy business. Jack is a quirky and zany inventor – a master of everything - a techno-geek! Andy is the grounded and sensible marketing manager. This dynamic duo is in a league all of their own. While attending an estate auction in San Francisco, Jack purchases an antique teddy bear. Turns out, this is not your normal teddy bear. Jack is mugged in a case of mistaken identity, which catapults the toy men into an unbelievable adventure. Jack is determined to out scam the scammers and find the secret behind this mysterious bear. Together, Jack and Andy put together the pieces of this implausible puzzle, one “strange piece at a time.”

Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery is fun, engaging, and delightfully entertaining, you won’t want to put it down! Susan Joy Clark pens a mystery novel full of comedic escapades. The bungling Mr. Magoo combines with the eccentricity of Columbo in the main character of Jack Donegal. Clark’s narrative is witty, comical and adventuresome. The writing style is artfully imaginative, using amusing and uncanny descriptions. The story is written from the point of view of the side-kick, which is rare, but really works! The antics of the characters keep the action moving quickly.

The best description of this creative work is silly-serious; it encompasses both abstract and concrete, humor and mystery, famous artwork, secret societies, and dating advice. The villains are bad guys, thugs with slightly dark motives and criminal intentions, contrasting with the good guys who are out for justice, and motivated to do what is right. Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery is a wild goose chase full of hare-brained ideas and geeky technology. It is a fun and enjoyable read from beginning to end.

Jack Magnus

Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery, Book 1 is an amateur sleuth mystery novel written by Susan Joy Clark. Andy Westin and his boss, Jack Donegal, were toy men. They lived, breathed and played their occupation and had a great time doing it. It was during one of their business trips to the San Francisco Toy Fair that they came upon an auction where Jack was unable to resist the charms of a 1915 Steiff teddy bear. That bear had been part of the estate of a California wine heiress, Georgina Elwood, a recluse and collector. Immediately after taking possession of his new teddy, strange things started happening to Jack and Andy. First, Jack was assaulted by two armed men who thought he was someone else and threatened him with an ornately carved knife. Then his iPhone turned out to be missing. Not a problem for them as Andy had the Find My Phone app, but their misadventures were just beginning, and the two toy men were delighted to discover a mystery worthy of their complete attention.

Susan Joy Clark's private investigator mystery novel, Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery, Book 1, will delight readers who enjoy a bit of humor mixed in with their sleuthing and pleasantly surprise those readers such as myself who are usually unaware of - or worse - unappreciative of comedic touches in their reading material. I had a grand time following Andy and his iconic boss, Jack, as they gallivanted around the Bay Area and Southern California and played at being detectives. Andy is the consummate narrator who, while completely authentic and original in his own right, agreeably reminded me at times of Nero Wolf's able and wisecracking sidekick, Archie Goodwin. Clark's story is breezy, fun and fast-paced, and her plot is inspired. Jack and Andy are two of the most intriguing new private eyes I've come across in quite some time, and I can't wait until their creator conjures up another irresistible conundrum for them to play with. Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery, Book 1 is most highly recommended.

Melissa Tanaka

Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery by Susan Joy Clark centers on a man by the name of Jack Donegal, who is an eccentric toy inventor, and his colleague, Andy Westin. Jack becomes a target when he is mistaken for another man after purchasing an antique teddy bear at a toy auction. From there, the two men take the situation into their own hands and decide to investigate the mystery behind the teddy bear and the secrets that it holds.

The first person point of view makes it very easy for readers to become engaged in the story, quickly slipping into the mind of Andy as he helps his boss and best friend untangle the web of mysteries that surrounds the bear and the criminals pursuing it. Although Andy is much more relatable a character, Jack is an enigma to witness, whether he is pulling random tidbits of information from the depths of his brain or quickly splicing together various contraptions in order to save the day. The witty banter between the two men and their lack of experience in sleuthing endears them to the reader, and by the end of the first chapter you cannot help but root for them. They James Bond their way out of several different situations, resulting in hilarity and various degrees of success.

Action Men with Silly Putty is a dream come true for mystery fans, mixing comedy and suspense along with classic gadgets such as hidden cameras, recording devices, vibration sensors, and everything else a spy could possibly need. I absolutely loved this book!