Sleep with the Fishes

Starred review from August 21, 2006
Three elements make the latest from Wiprud (Crooked
) a laugh-out-loud triumph. First, its protagonist: ex-professional hit man Sid "Sleep" Bifulco, a wise guy relocated to a "dot on the map" fishing community called Hellbender Eddy, Pa., after turning state's evidence against his mob buddies. Although he's never dropped a line in the water—all he knows about his second career he learned in the slammer from magazines like Sports Astream
and Rod & Rifle
—he doesn't let that stop him from diving into the fishing pool nose first. Second, its supporting cast: Sid assumes that country folk are either ignorant or naïve, and despite their quirks—Little Bob videotapes his every waking moment; the state trooper's pregnant wife refuses to let her delicate condition get in the way of her X-rated movie career—they get to prove him wrong, to delicious effect. Finally, a bucketful of hilarious miscommunications gives the plot—which includes the accidental slaughter of a scumbag and a missing video recording of it, a guardian angel with a soft spot for assassination, and a secret from Sid's past that could turn his fishing buddy homicidal—a serpentine trajectory that makes this suspenseful black comedy a page-turning, one-sitting read.