Andrew Post

An intelligently written book, cleverly mixing black humour and pathos, along with a warning on how life can take a turn for the worst so suddenly. Frank Goode is a disbarred doctor who used to use his talent for good, putting his patients in front of everything, until suddenly he had nothing to put his patents in front of as his marriage fell apart and he went to prison for a single error which is hinted at but not explained. Jolene and Amber run Amber's father's funeral parlour - not very show more well, in fact they owe money all over town. Amber is offered the "option" to harvest body parts of fresh corpses which come to her parlour - Jolene is horrified. Amber agrees to do a trial run. In the meantime, Frank has a member of one gang sleeping off the effects of an operation in his bedroom and a member of a rival gang on his operating table in his dining room turned operating room. From then on, it's pretty much down hill for everyone in the book, and yet the tale progresses such that I was rooting for the main characters and hoping the really bad guys got their comeuppance. That is the sign of a truly good writer, I was guessing until the end, even with the clues scattered throughout. show less

3.5

Book source ~ NetGalley

The Hawthorne Funeral Home finances are a mess. Why? Because Amber Hawthorne is a worthless crapmonkey who lets her friend Jolene Morris do all the work trying to keep it afloat while Amber parties and drugs it up. Morons, the both of them. So, when Amber’s dealer clues her in on a money making business (a highly illegal one of course) Amber jumps at the chance. Before she can make a decent argument to Jolene why it’s a good business decision, former show more physician-now-mob-doctor Frank Goode drops their first customer in their lap. Almost literally. They’re in the body part business now, for better or worse. *pssst: it’s worse

Ok, I know this is mostly about Amber and Jolene and how they got mixed up in a black market body parts deal, but the star of the show is Frank. Oh my, Frank. Did you ever see the CSI episode Loco Motives where the guy Max gets himself stuck in cement while disposing of his wife’s dead body? Frank is Max. Except a whole lot of mob is involved and blood. Sweet Baby Jane, this book is bloody. And that ending? Gah! While it’s a fast-paced page turner, it seemed a little too cliché at times for me. However, it is most definitely entertaining. show less

When I initially started reading this book, I felt a little overwhelmed and confused by the seemingly disjointed storyline and characters being thrown at me. But once things started to come together, my confusion morphed into disgusted enjoyment (pretty sure that’s a real thing).

Chop Shop is gory, over the top, gruesome, and macabre, in the best possible way. Andrew Post not only pushes you to the edge of decency with this story, he nudges you over and lets you dangle a bit before pulling show more you back. And just when you think it can’t go any further, surprise! It does. And you’re ultimately glad it did.

I received a free e-copy of Chop Shop by Andrew Post from Net Galley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for my review. show less

Characters: The antagonists are suitably despicable and horrible, while the protagonists are endearing and admirable. I absolutely loved the main quartet: Clyde, Flam, Rohm and Nevele. They don’t become insta-friends, but their tolerance of each other evolves into friendship, and they’re such great characters that if they were real *I’d* want to befriend them. Their distinct personalities mesh well, but also cause them to clash at times, so while they work great as a team, there’s show more witty bickering/bantering that keeps things interesting. A few of the characters are “fabrick weavers”—humans gifted with powerful abilities that are balanced out with a curse. The fabric weaving abilities/curses are imaginative, add extra depth to the characters, and have a big impact on the turns the story takes.

Plot: There’s one main storyline that switches back and forth with a few minor, connected storylines. This makes it seem like a lot is going on, but it’s an impressive, enthralling complexity, and the stories are expertly interwoven so as to not be confusing. Everything that happens or is revealed early on becomes important later so there is no fluff in this hefty tome, and the twists and surprises delighted me. The initial revenge plot morphs into a good vs. evil/must-save-the-city adventure where the ragtag group of heroes is confronted with increasingly dire obstacles that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Style: Either Post is ridiculously talented, or he spent ten years obsessively editing this to perfection. I sometimes had to stop to reread and marvel over the writing. Strong verbs, ingenious figurative language, dazzling details, appeals to all five senses. The writing is serious, gruesome or suspenseful when it needs to be, but there’s also a playful tone that shines through, making the book entertaining and smile-inducing.

I’d highly recommend this book for anyone who likes sci-fi, dystopian, epic adventure, or excellent writing. No idea what Post’s other novel (“Knuckleduster”) is about, but I’ll be getting it after I finish all the books I got for Christmas, and, of course, I eagerly await the “Fabrick” sequel. show less