In Citizen Insane by Karen Cantwell, in the community of Rustic Woods, Barbara Marr and her friends Roz and Peggy are heading for a pedicure when they spot heir neighbor, Bunny Burgen, wandering around completely in a daze. They deliver Bunny back to her house, where Barb sees Howard, her own husband who works for the FBI. He is waiting on duty without the women’s being told what the FBI are there for.
In the middle of the night, Barb gets a frantic call from Bunny and gets in her mini van to go find Bunny, only to realize that she has hit someone. Looking at what happened, she spies Michelle, Bunny’s best friend whom she was spotted arguing with at the PTA meeting. But when the police arrive, they find that Barb only lightly side-swiped Michelle. Instead, the woman ends up in the ICU because she has been shot.
I had a very fun time listening to Citizen Insane. It’s rare to get to call the experience of reading a book an adventure, but this book was a wild adventure. I felt like I was getting on a rollercoaster and didn’t want to get off until the very last second of the book. The plot is so unpredictable that it was exciting to wait to see what would happen next.
The characters all have lots of fun features and are highly original. We find out with surprise who the bad guys are and enjoy the details of each person’s nature, whether that person is good or bad. Barb just wants to be a typical soccer mom, but events in life prevent her from doing so. So does her annoying mother, who scares away everyone from Barb’s house when she comes near.
I enjoyed the narration of Nan McNamara as she performed the audio version of this book. McNamara does an effective job of making the crazy events of the book seem reasonable, despite their being so ridiculous at times. She makes the listening experience all the more delightful.
I really enjoyed Citizen Insane and appreciated the fun details of the book. I listened to this on an afternoon when my migraine was especially bad, and this book did an effective job of keeping me entertained and distracted from my pain. I give the book five stars.
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