Machine Gun Jelly is a cynical black comedy thriller, a golden thread of deception and imagination woven into a carpet of reality.

A small time hustler and Tiger Woods lookalike named Monsoon Parker is compelled to borrow money from a vicious Vegas mobster, and is unable to pay the Vig. In desperation, he ransacks an old suitcase that belonged to his old man, who got greased in Vietnam. What he discovers, the titular Machine Gun Jelly, triggers a series of increasingly bizarre events, and entangles a picaresque cast of characters in a dangerous farce.

Only one man knows what they are really dealing with, and he doesn't even know which planet he's on. Pretty soon, people start dying. The action moves from Las Vegas to Vietnam to Australia before coming to a chaotic and explosive conclusion.

Machine Gun Jelly is the first installment of the Big Bamboo series, and introduces the principle characters, these being…….

Asia Birdshadow. Smart, sassy and sexy as hell. Initially found working as a lady of the night in Las Vegas. She has all the tools for the job, but not enough flint in her soul to survive very long in that profession.

Jordan 'Baby Joe' Young. A white knight in the black night. A middle aged hard as coffin nails ex Boston PD, Baby Joe makes his living extricating people from difficulties in Vegas. Not someone to be trifled with, but a complicated man who suffers from an excess of moral integrity. Not necessarily an advantage in the seas in which he swims.

Crispin Capricorn. Outrageously flamboyant gay lounge singer. Talented, witty, acerbic, petulant, emotional, loving and loyal, Crispin is Asia's best friend. A gigantic heroic muffin man, who always stands by her and is not afraid to ante up when the chips are down.

Monsoon Parker. Unrepentant sleazebag of the first order. Bears a remarkable resemblance to Tiger Woods. As reliable as a chocolate clock, Monsoon slimes his way through life, always on the lookout for the big score, without ever seeing the big picture. Monsoon is invariably the catalyst for catastrophe. The butthole from which emanates all the shit that goes down.

These characters appear in all the Big Bamboo books. Except for the ones that get croaked, who are……..Dream on, pal.

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