Psych: Call of the Mild

Psych: Call of the Mild

Written by: William Rabkin
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Signet
Language: English
January 2010, $7.99
Genre: Fiction/TV Series

Based on the hit USA Network series

A new novel fans will be totally "psyched" about...

Shawn Spencer has convinced everyone he's psychic.

Now, he's either going to clean up-or be found out...

Shawn Spencer has always hated the wilderness-by which he means anything outside the delivery radius of his favorite pizza place. But Psych has been hired to solve a baffling case of industrial espionage, and the only way to catch the spy is to join their client's bonding retreat-a grueling seven day backpacking mountain trek.

But when one of the campers turns up with a bullet in the head, Shawn and Gus soon realize that sheer cliffs, rampaging bears, and freeze- dried pineapple aren't the greatest threats they face.

+++++++++++++

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Psych. Its a great show that has enough 80’s and pop culture geekiness in to make a girly geek such as myself quite sated. I love Gus and Shawn. My sister and U enjoy the show so much that one year for her birthday I got her a cake that had ‘banana: a yellow fruit, also a tasty pudding, a delicious pudding’ on it from the Spelling Bee episode. Those who just laughed because they remember that episode, I heart you, plus psychic high five. In short, if its Psych related I’ll probably read it.

Now William Rabkin has dine the last few Psych novels and while none of them were so horrid that the books made their way into my Used Book Bin, none of them have been so amazing that I did Numfar’s Dance of Joy. There is something missing in each of the novels that keep them from being truly awesome. This is not to say that they are not enjoyable reads. I like them, but they are no Spelling Bee episode.

Shawn and Gus are hired to find a missing necklace, but as per usual things are a bit more complicated then that. Not only does Henry, Shawn’s dad, get involved but a missing necklace turns into a murder with gun wielding mimes, and a wilderness corporate retreat where everyone keeps dying.

Things I loved: Gus makes me smile. And it makes me giggle like a school girl picturing Dule Hill having Gus get lost and dehydrated not in the jungle, but at a local nature park that has a kiddy train running through it. Cause lets face it, he’d rock. Gus is a great character and I think Rabkin had his characterization pretty spot on in this outing. Everyone else was good as well, but sometimes just a bit off and Shawn seemed a bit more annoying than usual.

I still get the usual banter, off the wall plot, tidy episodic ending. I could actually picture a lot of this as a great episode, but as I have said before in previous Psych novel reviews that it seems like the novels are cast off episode ideas that have never really managed to make it to air due to one problem or another.

And yet I laughed out loud a couple of times while reading this so that has to say something.

Things I didn't love so much: It was a bit mish mash. The missing necklace bit and the murder felt like a different novel when compared to the wilderness retreat story. Its just a bit jumbled. They needed a bigger boat, err...book.

I think this may be the weakest of the tie-ins when viewed as a whole. I keep expecting them to get better, for one of them to really capture me and ask why is this not an episode.

As I said before the chracters other than Gus were a bit off. Shawn is kind of whiny, annoying and bratty. While I enjoyed Henry’s fray into Rock Band camp, there were other bits that had me scratching my head, such as his age.

Buy or Borrow: Borrow. If you have bought the other ones I know you will be like me and I buy it, but if this is your first foray into Psych novel land I might just skip it as it is off the mark.

Part of: The Psych Series.
Book One: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read

Book Two: Mind Over Magic

Book Three: The Call of the Mild

Book Four: A Fatal Frame of Mind

Book Five: Mind-Altering Murder


Also Recommended: If you haven't watched the tv series please do, its wonderful. For fun crime series I might suggest JD Robb’s Eve Dallas series. If you like USA tv series there are also books on Monk and Burn Notice.

2.75 out of 4 happy bibliosnark bookmarks