I enjoyed The Exterminators a lot and I think it’s even better than Pest Control. It is witty, exciting and full of wry satire.
This time, Bob and Klaus have been successfully living under cover in Oregon for several years, avoiding the drug lord who thinks they are dead. An agent of the Government’s defence agency recruits them to develop anti-terrorist insect weapons. Needless to say, things become very complicated, they end up with assassins on their tails again and wanted by the US authorities. They need an ingenious plan to get them out of trouble.
It’s completely crazy, of course, but Bill Fitzhugh structures it and writes so well that it makes a kind of sense and is a very entertaining read. There is some amusing farce and a good deal of very penetrating satire of Hollywood, US politics, the Christian Right, conspiracy theorists, the broadcast media and so on. Fitzhugh avoids the frequent, rather clumsy Dylan references which were a feature of Pest Control and the book is all the better for it, with just a few much more subtle references like “...that rainy night in Juarez…” which don’t intrude but which Dylan aficionados will appreciate.
In short, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read with some satirical substance to it as well. Warmly recommended.
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