Book Description: Six-foot-nine and four hundred pounds, hailing from parts unknown, he is the one-man walking gore-machine of the Deep South Wrestling Conference, and his name is...GOON ...
But police captain Philip Straker isn't a wrestling fan. The bodies pile up like dirty laundry: sex-obsessed tramps used as playthings by some unspeakable creature. Straker is determined to solve the rash of rape and mutilation murders with trimmings that beggar description. Is it just a coincidence, or do all the victims have something in common? ...GOON ... Investigative reporter Melinda Pierce will do anything to find out, by offering herself up as a sexual spittoon in order to infiltrate the arcane and lust-drenched warrens of backstage wrestling. There, in maloderous locker rooms and unsavory motels, she partakes in carnal forays so gross, so downright nasty, they'd make Linda Lovelace bend over and puke. All to track down...GOON ... This human juggernaut, this masked rack of guts, muscle, and mayhem... Is Goon just a wrestler gone insane? Or is he something hideously worse? Relentless as a Texas Deathmatch, GOON is a no-holds-barred festival of body slams and insatiable orgy, of pile-drivers and sexual grotesquerie, of neck-breakers, drop-kicks and more blood and guts than a fish market floor. It just might leave you down for the count...
over the top Ed Lee has done it again and in combination with Phelan,I just sit here shaking my head in awe. Short and sweet (LOL) this book will gross you out and make you smile. Easily on par with The Bighead, I couldn't put it down.
A missed opportunity. The best thing about "Goon" is its cover art: massive and still, his head down, his face covered by a mask, Goon suggests pure malevolence. Unfortunately, one of the biggest flaws about "Goon" is that he's never around. Though he is the titular character, we never really get to see Goon in action. Considering how thin this book is, it doesn't make sense to me why Lee couldn't include one chapter showing us Goon's ghastly deeds. He has no problem including a pointless scene involving police detective Straker getting it on with a witness, which features all areas of the female anatomy described as food.
In fact, about eighty percent of this book is taken up with Straker's juvenile sexual musings about reporter Melinda. It feels like the entire middle of the book is her prattling on about why women sleep with these sleazy wrestlers and describing the culture while he internally drools over her legs.
I know you're not exactly supposed to expect total coherency while dealing with this type of story, but it's pretty ridiculous. All the evidence clearly points to Goon. So instead of Straker going undercover with a reporter (!) why doesn't he just bring Goon in for an interview, which any sensible law-enforcement agent would?
There are two great, disgustingly hilarious scenes in the book -- one involving a redneck cop detailing various trysts and the other featuring Straker in a most unerotic sexual encounter -- but overall the novel (which, at 128 pages with plenty of blank space, is really a short story) felt slapdash. You don't expect Fitzgerald-like prose from Lee, but he has shown he has a better command of language than this. When describing one female, he lists her cup size. Phrases and words are often repeated, literally on the same page, by different characters.
While the cover art is brilliant, the illustrations inside are childish and annoying; they look like something a bored teenager might doodle in his notebook. They also come before their appearance in the text, which, at one point, ruins a "surprise" in the plot. It should also be noted that the main story of "Goon" is basically the same one used for "The Bighead," which is superior to this in every way.
"You're kind of amusing, what with your j*****g off every time you see me." Nowhere near as gross and vile as it's rumored to be "Goon" is still a fun sick read and at only 138 pages you can get through it pretty fast.
A lot of mutilated bodies have been piling up and police captain Straker thinks it's the work of Deep South Wrestling Conference wrestler Goon. So with the help of a super hot female reporter Straker goes undercover in the seedy world of wrestling groupies or ringrats. Repulsive sex scenes follow.
After reading so much about this book I was disappointed overall in the community college level writing and the gross stuff wasn't that gross. Yea, I laughed a few times and there's no shortage of nastiness, but it's done in such an over the top way that a lot of the impact is lost. A good example is when you're watching "South Park" there's lots of gross stuff there but it's funny in its outrageousness not gross.
Weird and brutal. I'm not a wrestling fan but I enjoyed this book. There's some brutal stuff in here, extreme sexual violence that may turn some people off. If you like this stuff, though, get this book.
The one thing that I had a slight problem with were the illustrations. The cover of the book is awesome but the illustrations are sort of cartoonish. It just made the content of the book less horrifying. When I read hardcore horror, I want to be disgusted or horrified.. but I can't if I get the impression that everything is happening in a sort of comic book world.
Anyway, that's my only criticism. Other than that, its excellent. Buy this before it goes out of print!
Fun little book I really like Edward Lee. I know I am not alone in this thought. I enjoy what he writes and I have started to spend the money in order to read some of his harder to find books. This book cost forty dollars and it was only about 140 pages, but it was worth it. It was worth it because I really enjoy his writing. This was the first Pelan collaboration I have read and I look forward to reading the rest. If you are not sure about Ed Lee try ordering City Infernal for a few dollars and maybe you too will become hooked.
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