Benny Dubious Hiding from the Feds Omnibus Trilogy Special Edition

Maxwell Hoffman's "Benny Dubious Hiding from the Feds" is a unique addition to his expansive literary universe. This omnibus trilogy follows the misadventures of Benny Dubious, a former member of the "White Batch" who finds himself on the run from federal agents after some time machine complications with Ethan Berg.

The story begins with Benny arriving at his cousin Terance Obeng's place in Las Vegas, claiming that his apartment had been fumigated for pests. Right away you can tell this guy's trouble, but the family takes him in anyway. What follows is a peculiar family dynamic where Benny's trying to get his young cousin Themba to help him build another time machine, while the feds are looking for him.

The plot itself is pretty wild when you think about it. Here's this criminal trying to hide in plain sight with his family, and he's trying to convince a kid to build him time travel tech. The family stuff is interesting too - you've got Terance and Lilly who seem to want to help, but then there's the grandfather Uche who clearly doesn't trust Benny, and the older kids Jae and Summer who know about his past with the White Batch.

The characters aren't super deep, but they work for what this story needs. Benny's kind of pathetic but you still want to see what happens to him. The family dynamics feel real - the tension between helping family and knowing someone's trouble is something most people can relate to.

Look, this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. The writing style takes some getting used to and the all-caps thing might drive some people crazy. But if you like books that do their own thing and don't follow the usual rules, you might find yourself getting sucked into this one like I did.