Steppin' on a rainbow /

"The unaimed arrow never misses." This bit of "kahuna Zen" rather aptly encapsulates the Kinkster's modus operandi as he and his cohorts search for their missing friend McGovern thousands of miles from the Big Apple on the Hawaiian Islands. It also accurately applies to the leisurely, meandering, rambling, at times suspenseful, and often quite hilarious style that Friedman has perfected over the course of 14 novels featuring himself as amateur sleuth. This time the case involves missing ka'ai (ancient Hawaiian artifacts), the disappearance of a newspaper reporter, mysterious Hawaiian night marchers, the consumption of numerous "penis coladas," and the uncanny resemblance between McGovern and the ancient Hawaiian high chief Lonoikamakahiki. Plot is, however, really secondary in a Friedman caper, and saying that Friedman's books are character driven is understatement. Accompanying Kinky in the wild jungles of the big island are the limerick-spouting Hoover, the insanely rich McCall, and the unbelievably sexy Stephanie DuPont, with her dogs Thisbe and Baby. All this and a cameo by Don Ho, too. --Benjamin Segedin

The eponymous PI Kinky Friedman (aka the Kinkster) is up to his usual amusing antics in his 14th outing (after 2000's The Mile High Club). From beginning to end, the narrative sizzles with crackling dialogue and bawdy wit. New Yorker Kinky is trying to lead his quiet life as a lazy private detective while mooning over his friend Stephanie, with whom he would like to have more than a platonic relationship, when a problem comes over the blower (that's telephone to most of us) from the Kinkster's old friend, Willis Hoover, now a columnist for the Honolulu Advertiser. Their mutual eccentric friend (all Kinky's friends are eccentric), Mike McGovern, has disappeared from the beach in Hawaii, and Hoover needs the Kinkster's help finding the missing man. Kinky persuades Stephanie to join him for a trip to the 50th state, where they meet up with Hoover and pursue McGovern's trail. They soon get into very deep waters, particularly after beautiful local reporter Carline also disappears. The crew chase around several islands, with a surprising denouement that reaches back into Hawaiian history and legend. As usual, a winning style and lively characterization more than compensate for the serviceable plot. One word of warning: for those whose taste doesn't run to foul language, this book might not be their cup of tea. 10-city author tour. Agent, Esther Newberg. (Sept. 5) FYI: Texas Monthly magazine recently hired Friedman (the author, not the character) to write a regular column; he has received a fan letter from President Bush. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Now that his Vandam Street Irregulars are all out of town-Stephanie DuPont's in Nassau, Ratso Sloman in Montauk, Steve Rambam in Israel, Mike McGovern in Hawaii collecting recipes for his new cookbook Eat, Drink, and Be Kinky-is it finally time for Kinky Friedman to get a life of his own? Of course not. A pair of phone calls-the first from beekeeper-turned-newspaperman Willis Hoover reporting McGovern's sudden disappearance from a Waikiki beach, the second including McGovern's trademark distress signal-"MIT!-MIT!-MIT!"-announces that McGovern's indeed a Man in Trouble, and that Kinky and the returning Stephanie have to get megamillionaire John McCall to fly them and Stephanie's pain-in-the-neck dogs to the islands. The good news is that McGovern's mayday strongly suggests that he's not dead; certainly he's not the corpse the Hawaiian authorities identify as his. Nor is a mental inmate in the institution Kinky and his diminished forces visit, or the kidnap victim a pair of low-level thugs try to ransom. But if McGovern's in no danger, what's his connection to the vanishing years ago of a pair of priceless Island relics, and the current vanishing of investigative reporter Carline Ravel? All right, all right: The mystery, as usual in this waggish series (The Mile High Club, 2000, etc.), is no more substantial than peach fuzz. This time, though, Kinky's patter is disappointingly thin too. As he'd be the first to admit, he needs his posse, or at least his cat, rather than a row of Penis Coladas to bounce off his peerless non-sequiturs.