Ruddy McCann, former college football star, has experienced a seismic drop in popularity; he is now Kalkaska, Michigan’s full-time repo man and part-time bar bouncer. His best friend is his low-energy Basset hound Jake, with whom he shares a simple life of stealing cars.

Simple, that is, until Ruddy starts hearing a voice in his head.

The voice introduces himself as Alan Lottner, a dead realtor. Ruddy isn’t sure if Alan is real, or if he’s losing his mind. To complicate matters, it turns out Katie, the girl he’s fallen for, is Alan’s daughter.

When Alan demands Ruddy find his murderers, Ruddy decides a voice in your head seeking vengeance is best ignored.  When Alan also demands he clean up his act, and apartment, Ruddy tells him to back off, but where can a voice in your head go?

If you like Christopher Moore or Carl Hiaasen, I think you’ll enjoy W. Bruce Cameron’s Repo Man books.

Ruddy leads a cast of flawed-but-likeable characters who’re trying to survive life in northern Michigan. I can relate–I live 15 miles away from his home in Kalkaska, Michigan. Income depends on the weather and tourists, and there aren’t a lot of glamorous options in the area.

Somehow, Ruddy ends up with a dead man in his head, and they set off to find out what happened to Allan. It’s remarkably easy to get into Ruddy’s head with the characters and understand their motivations and frustrations. It’s also easy to root for Ruddy and Allan.

There are plenty of funny moments without that “I’m trying to be funny” feeling–they just happen because of the characters and their situations. The style and story line reminded me a lot of Moore and Hiaasen. I was sad to see there’s only one other book in the series, but I will definitely read it. (Just one thing–Kalkaska’s not in Charlevoix County!)

PG-13 for language and setting (there’s a bar). Get your copy here!

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