The Big Bang (Review)

I wanted to read this because I thought this sounded hilarious from the blurb.  Somewhere along the way I found myself comparing this to one of my favorite television series that has wrapped up.  This wasn't just snarky, fun humor this had some down right dark comedic moments as well. Fans of Desperate Housewives will find a lot to love in The Big Bang by Linda Hull.  While still reflecting the same feel of everything I loved on Wisteria Lane, the author has come up with a totally unique plot and cast of characters that merely make me reminiscent of something I thought I had lost forever.

Hope is a woman that the men in the neighborhood all covet.  The women aren't her best friend because they are too busy slapping their husbands for staring at her bottom.   Hope is happily married to Jim and seems to have the dream life.  Except for one little, teeny, tiny thing.  She desperately wants a baby.

Frank is the town's minister with goals of his own to advance his small presence and build the church of his dreams.   Frank seems oblivious to the problems in his own home, however.  His wife has her own issues and is far from in love with her husband (as evidenced very early in the novel when she takes her quiet revenge) and his daughter has become the main instigator in a local coven of teenage witches.

Will is the stay at home father, his wife holds a powerful political position and he is raising the children.  He also loves to oppose Frank and secretly covet Hope.   There are times where his coveting of Hope seems to cross the line to obsession.   His son is deeply embroiled in the teenage coven as well.

Not last, but the last I'm going to talk about for fear of confusion, enter Tim.  Tim and his wife are in the first chapter buying a home from Laney (the one I wasn't going to talk about).   He sees Hope in her yard and determines he will have her.  Despite the fact his wife is pregnant with twins.

There are a lot of characters to this story, I stand on my recommendation fans of the famous housewives will find a little bit of their missing fix in this novel.  As confusing as all of the characters are the novel really does hold your hand and introduce you to each of them with style.   It is just very hard to summarize the story without talking about them.

There are a lot of little side stories going on in this well regulated community but the main two concepts are Hope wants a baby and Frank wants a church building.   Through a comedy of errors, including a bit of teenage fun gone awry, both of these people seem to be getting what their heart desires.   Except there are problems.  For Frank the main problem is he seems to be building a playground on a marsh to get the land for his church.   For Hope, after the evening of hash brownies courtesy of the teenagers, she isn't sure who the father of her baby is.

The characters dominate the first half of this story.  Which keeps the reader from getting confused and offers an inside look at what makes the cast of characters tick.   The plot takes over the second half of the novel and slowly unveils all of the twists and turns.   This book was very enjoyable.  I actually hope that the author turns this into a series and takes us back to these people again, though, everything did wrap up nicely at the end there is always tomorrow's catastrophe isn't there?