Barrowcliffe's follow-up to Girlfriend 44
establishes him as the king of the cheeky, ironic romantic tagline, but his follow-through leaves much to be desired in this labored comedy about a 30-something British fellow who suddenly finds himself with two pregnant girlfriends. Stewart "Dag" Dagman is the whiny, wisecracking narrator who finds himself facing fatherhood when his long-time, live-in girlfriend, Andrea Ellis, informs him that she's in a family way; he gets a double dose of impending maturity when his younger lover, Cat Grey, delivers a similar pronouncement. Barrowcliffe tracks Dag's half-baked romantic angst through a series of scenes that feature endless sequences of hit-and-miss comic dialogue with Stewart's best friend Henderson, until the would-be father finally 'fesses up about his romantic duality to Grey. That touches off a series of breakup scenes followed by a sequence in which Grey pretends to be an online journalist to meet her counterpart, with Dagman using electronic surveillance equipment to find out how the two women really feel about him. Barrowcliffe jumps through some serious hoops to generate narrative tension, introducing a strange shooting incident as well as a terminal illness involving Andrea's father before he sprints off to the inevitable happy ending as the opportunistic Henderson pursues Grey while Dagman tries to restore his credibility with the two women. But most of the comedy never rises above the sitcom level, and the novel being built around an unlikable protagonist doesn't help matters. Barrowcliffe pens a few funny scenes here and there, but the occasional chuckle can't save this thinly plotted tale from an abundance of unfocused writing that fails to tickle the funny bone. (May)
Forecast:A great jacket—a kitschy red plastic devil on a yellow backdrop—should singlehandedly move a few copies, despite the book's disappointing contents.
