Friday Reads: The High Road by Terry Fallis

The High Road picks up right where The Best Laid Plans left us.   Good thing, too, since I was hardly ready to leave these characters quite yet.   This book find our beloved Angus back on the campaign trail...but this time he actually WANTS it!   While I found the first book quite amusing.  The sequel is laugh out loud hilarious!   Not one I could easily read in public unless I wanted people looking at me funny.

Warning - the next couple of paragraphs contain details of the book that some readers might wish to discover for themselves.  I've tried to be general while providing some of the colour of the story.

The book is split into two parts.  The first chronicles Angus's campaign, where he is up against not one, but TWO Tories.  Emerson "Flamethrower" Fox is a master at negative campaigning.  If an opponent has even the slightest speck of dirt on them - he exploits it to help his own campaign.  He just didn't expect Angus to be so proud of his record of 23 arrests!   The other Tory candidate, is Alden Stonehouse - local religious leader with an enthusiastic following.   No matter because neither of these guys stood a chance against Honest Angus.   Throughout a campaign rife with hilarious hijinx - this is one election the residents of Cumberland-Prescott are not soon to forget.

Come a nail-biting election night, Angus wins!  It's close, but he ultimately takes the prize.  Then it is on to Parliament Hill, where a special assignment has come to our favourite Scot!   A major Ottawa bridge suddenly collapsed into the river in the wee hours of the day after Election Night.   With Angus's engineering background, the newly elected Prime Minister wants him to discover why and report on it.  Angus agrees, but only if it is on his terms and provides full disclosure of his findings to the public.   The PM agrees and Angus throws himself into the investigation.    The deeper he digs, the more disturbing his findings become.  But it's too late now - the PM agreed and there's no turning back now!  Add in an adventurous visit from the US President and his alcoholic wife and you're going to be laughing your butt off for a good chunk of the book!

Like The Best Laid Plans - this book keeps you turning pages. The characters are painted in rich full colour.  In some ways, the story does wrap up a bit too neatly - Angus seems to have a golden horseshoe up his arse - but since we love him so much, it's not heartbreaking to see him win.

I highly recommend this!  It is among the best books I have read in a while!   So, go buy it (or check it out of the library) already!!!  Just make sure you read it!