3 out of 4 stars
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I absolutely loved Lou's Tattoos by Iris Chacon. It's a charming, hilariously funny and delightfully romantic adventure set in 1995. However, I was mortified to find that this period (when I was in my late twenties) is such ancient history now that it requires an introduction to explain photographic film, and how you texted on old-style phones (of which my current phone is one).
Well, you know what they say, nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
Lou is a very talented photographer and tattoo artist, back in a time when inking was associated with bikers, mobsters and riffraff. Unbeknownst to her, Buddy Petruccio, a minor mobster, realises that Lou needs to be ‘disappeared’ as she could blow his murder alibi. Fortunately, she is the darling of the biker community who love her work, so they swear to protect her. Meanwhile, she bumps into Galen Randall on a plane. He is a rich, handsome, world famous, though rarely seen, wildlife photographer. Galen realises that she is his soulmate and sets out in hot pursuit.
It all comes together as a hilarious comedy of mistaken identity as burly and utterly adorable bikers try (as unobtrusively as a huge, leather-clad man on a Harley-Davidson hog can be) to protect Lou from hitmen. The story takes a number of twist and turns with ridiculous scenarios that made me laugh out loud. I found the whole thing rather reminiscent of The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop (to assist those for whom this is ancient history, I have provided an appendix). Lou would of course be Penelope, the bikers would be the Ant Hill Mob, Buddy Petruccio, the Hooded Claw and Galen, Peter Perfect.
This, for me, was the ultimate ‘feel good’ book. I adored all of the characters for their love and support of each other. I have only two negative comments. One is that it could do with another round of editing, and the other is that it is very short. The whole book is 134 pages long, but the story itself only makes up about 95. I couldn’t help but feel that the three appendices, including a 16 page history of tattooing and an 8 page description of 1995 culture, were there to disguise the book’s brevity. I’m not surprised that the story is short, it’s the kind of, witty, snappy humour that needs to be concise. However, I felt that maybe the author could have had more of a free-for-all at the end, or an exciting chase, or slipped in some extra chapters rather than appendices.
Even with the shortness of the book, I would still have been happy to have paid for it as I enjoyed every minute. I would love to give this book top marks, but I’ve deducted a star for the grammatical errors and so can only give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Appendix.
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an American animated television series produced in 1969 by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It is a spin-off of the Wacky Races cartoon, which itself was inspired by the 1965 film The Great Race. Penelope Pitstop is a typical damsel in distress (which Lou certainly isn’t) and her cries of ‘heyulp’ were always answered by the Ant Hill Mob (a collection of unshaven mafiosa) or Peter Perfect (who was only in Wacky Races).
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Lou's Tattoos
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