Review: ‘I am held captive.’
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 19, 2014
‘My hands and feet are tied so tight to a creaky wooden chair that they are turning purple from the lack of circulation. How did I get into this mess? More importantly…how do I get out of it?’In this novel, Rory Scherer takes us on a roller coaster ride through the life (before he was captured) of our protagonist, an unnamed male, who is just a bit unlucky.  He’s unlucky in finding a job that he can keep for any period of time, let alone one he actually enjoys.  And don’t imagine he’s fared any better with romance.  His best friend is Will -‘Can’t two dateless heterosexual friends go to a celebration of their graduation from high school together?’-  and Will helps him get a job, at an investment company.  After three weeks he’s just starting to feel a little comfortable.  He takes some work home one night, manages to sleep in, and is late for work.  Just in time to see men dressed in black carrying boxes of records out of the office, and to learn that the CEO has been arrested for stealing millions from the company.  So that’s the end of that job. Or is it?  How does he end up tied to a chair being threatened by three big men?‘It is coming back to me.’It’s a short novel (around 114 pages) and intensely, laugh-out-loud funny.  There’s plenty of parody and plenty of drama in some absolutely unbelievable situations.  And some of the near unbelievable situations are pretty funny as well: especially the Parkdale Euchre Championships.  Oh, and plenty of digressions as well.  How else would we learn about Will’s addiction to internet pornography, and his late great Aunt Edna?It’s funny, it’s over the top and because the eyes we see it through are those of our unnamed protagonist, it’s a uniquely interesting view of the world.  Enjoy the story!Note: I was offered, and accepted, a copy of this story for review purposes.Jennifer Cameron-Smith