Lunatics by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel (audiobook)

Title: Lunatics

Author: Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel
Read by: Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Length: 6 CDs, approximately 7 hours
Source: Review Copy from Penguin Audio

Life has been pretty stressful lately.  I am always looking for a good book that will make me laugh.  Lunatics definitely fit that bill.  I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed out loud so many times as I drive to and from work.

Philip Horkman is a happy laid back man who has realized his dream in life by owning his own pet store, The Wine Shop.  On the weekends he is a referee for children’s soccer.  His life changes forever when he makes a call against Jeffrey Peckerman’s daughter.  Peckerman is an uptight forensic plumber that is sure that he is always right and surrounded by idiots.  The two find themselves in a quickly escalating turn of events that soon finds them running from the law and becoming international fugitives / heroes? 

I really like how Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel wrote this book.  They each took a turn writing a chapter so each chapter is either narrated by Horkman or Peckerman.  The total difference in the two guys’ interpretation of events provides much of the hilarity.  The ridiculousness also was quite funny.  I must admit though that I thought it did go a bit too far by the time I got to the end of the book.  I wasn’t laughing by that point, but overall I still enjoyed it.

The two authors narrate the audiobook and do a superb job of giving their characters unique voices.  I listened to this audiobook as part of TheAudiobook Challenge 2012.