Simon Plaster’s Greezers is the word
Greezers is the latest and perhaps greatest satirical novel by Simon Plaster featuring the memorable character, Henrietta, named after a city in Oklahoma, Henryetta, who, before Greezers, had a desire to advance his journalistic career and one day win a Pulitzer Prize. In Greezers, a story of a chain of lubricants, fast food and succession stores, Henrietta seeks a change in her life and gets a job as an assistant to Leroy (“Lero”) O’Rourke, a private detective. She thinks that as a journalist, she has done a fair amount of deductive reasoning, and that will keep her on track in her new career. But how far will you go in your search for truth, justice and the American way? Let’s say that in GreezersSteeped in popular culture and music references that fans of the series have come to expect, Simon Plaster has Henrietta put her “assets” on stage for all to see, even making her briefly work at a strip club in his efforts to keep an eye on her. a subject, Harry DeGrasso, who is a potential heir to Trinita Coal Oil & Tar Company.
You may wonder why Greezers it’s called Greezers. This is because the book is about the plots and plans of the possible successors to the Greezers lube store chain of Trinita Coal Oil & Tar Company to one day take control of it from the elderly matriarch of 95 years of the company, Nanette GeGrasso. While her son, Charles, who is the company’s executive vice president, appears to be the obvious choice as the heir apparent, he has fallen out of favor with his mother and has family rivals whom they would like to dethrone as well. Nanette, like her nephew, Joe DeGrasso, who is also an executive vice president. Nanette acts with disdain towards all possible successors, with the exception of Harry, who is her grandson and a junior executive of the Company, under the watchful eye and thumb of Charles. Charles, however, does not believe that Harry is sufficiently trained or as experienced and worthy as he is, and believes that he, rather than Harry, should be the one to take over after his mother dies.
He is also called Greezers because another possible successor, Hunter DeGrasso, “an entrepreneurial lawyer” and Joe’s son, has the idea that combining the lubricants business with a fast food operation would make great business sense and increase the profits of the company. significantly. The particular type of fast food is salo, or strips of pork fat, also known as “Lardo di Colonnata,” and he is involved in a joint venture with a group of corrupt Ukrainians who want to present the product to the United States. Hunter knows that Aunt Nanette loved eating Lardo di Colonnata when she was younger. However, she is not in favor of the thinly sliced pork being served fried, even though her brother-turned-monk, Brother Bernardo, agrees with the proposal.
Henrietta becomes increasingly involved in unraveling the complex web of plots and plans of the various potential heirs. He eventually realizes that his employer, O’Rourke, has his own dog in the fight, as Charles DeGrasso hired him, through one of the men who works for him, Evans. O’Rourke also sees his involvement in the case as a way to become more famous, and perhaps help propel him politically, possibly all the way to the White House. Charles would like nothing more than O’Rourke to find information about Harry that would cause his mother, Nanette, to stop viewing Harry as his successor and instead favor him.
Simon Plaster’s humorous characters, satirical humor, and popular culture references and song lyrics are some of the hallmarks of his fascinating series with Henrietta, and his latest novel, Greezers, is no exception. For example, Plaster quotes lyrics from songs like AC / DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” (though he attributes it to Steven Tyler), from “Somebody Got Murdered” and “I’m So Bored With the USA,” from The Clash, and “Paradise City”, from Guns ‘N’ Roses. He even references Shakespeare’s play, MacBeth, which also deals, in part, with the issue of who is best suited to succeed, comparing Charles to his character, Banquo, a man who will “get kings” but who is not there. destined to be. one.
Can the heroine of Greezers, Henrietta, successfully change careers and go from reporter to private investigator? Which of the possible successors to Trinita Coal Oil & Tar Company and the Greezers chain of lube shops / fast food outlets will inherit the Nanette DeGrasso throne?
Without revealing any other spoilers, I’ll just add that. Greezers it’s an entertaining satirical romp that I highly recommend. Like all books by author Simon Plaster, it can be read and enjoyed independently. However, reading the others in Henrietta’s series will provide readers with useful information about her and other characters, and they are all fun reads well worth checking out! Stay safe and healthy, now, as always!
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