The Swap

How far would you go to undo the biggest mistake of your life?

The flawed protagonist, Harvey Briscow, has spent his life obsessing over what he believes to be his biggest mistake: when he was a child he swapped away a now-valuable Superman One comic. When he finally works up the courage to try to correct this mistake, he bungles the job and his mistakes and their consequences snowball.

This is a delightful pop novel in the dark comedy vein. The characters aren't terribly well-developed but I saw enough of Harvey to root for him. It helps that Harvey is the same age as me - I can relate to his growth pains and angst as he reaches the end of his 30's. His snarkiness is an unfortunate side effect of his immaturity and insecurity, but it show more didn't make him less likable to me.

The story itself is compulsively readable. There are enough plot synopses out there, so I'll leave it at that.

Potential spoiler below:

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I was very upset by the sudden ending. It just ended - BOOM. Over. Gate crashed down. I let it sit for almost two weeks before writing this review because I was that unsettled. In retrospect, it seems like a tv- or movie-ending, where the screen just goes black at the climax. Poor Harvey. I liked Harvey, I really did. Sure he's flawed. He made a lot of mistakes just like all of us, but he didn't deserve this, surely? show less

It is refreshing to read a mystery/thriller book where the main character is not some spunky female (young or old), totally cool dude, or totally wierd. The main character of [The Swap] is a looser, immature, and self-centered. Several times I was so inspired by his actions and thoughts to form my thumb and index finger in an L shape, hold it to my forehead and yell out, "You are such a Looser!" But, mostly, I had to laugh a lot too. They were all there---the people you went to high school with: the bully and the bullied, the jock, the people that cannot expand beyond their circle of old high school friends, the wierd parents, and the geeky parents.

I am not skilled in British slang to make any comment about it being appropriate, but it show more did not stand in the way of my understanding the plot. I can imagine that some people would not find this a particularly funny novel. However, I found myself laughing out loud a number of times---something I don't often do reading. Several other reviewers have commented about the ending of the book. I haven't really made up my mind about it yet. But, as I think about it more and more, Harvey, the main character, is so self-centered and short-sighted that as a consequence he sets himself up for the end of the novel.

Do you like BBC comedies?---then you might enjoy this book. show less

Antony Moore's debut novel The Swap is, much to this reviewer's surprise, a better novel than I think it intends to be. With its close-up comic-book cover, a somewhat self-deprecating back cover blurb, and a hero who's greatest aspiration turns out to be little more than screwing up as little as possible, one would probably enter this book with low expectations. And with a few exceptions (including a sadly egregious one), one would be right.

The novel begins with a brief scene between two children, in which one inexplicably exchanges his pristine copy of Superman One for a useless length of pipe. The two go their separate ways and we recover their trails twenty years later: the young thug who gave away the comic has turned out to be show more Harvey Briscoe, a fat chain-smoking nothing who runs (poorly) a comic shop and endlessly rues the day he gave away his most prized possession. The occasion of his high school reunion heralds the return of the man he swapped with, Charles "Bleeder" Odd, who has become marvelously successful and, Harvey presumes, might be willing to give back the comic and let bygones be bygones.

From this simple setup, the novel spirals quickly out of control. Murder and misappropriation set the wheels into motion, and Moore handles the shift from innocent scheme to diabolical plotting with ease. If there is any complaint to be had about the nature of the mystery, it is that the substance of the murder, and the clues that spring up every now and then, are minimal at best. We spend a great deal of time in Harvey's mind as he works out scenarios, but the actual case is far simpler and more niftily resolved than the suspense would lead us to believe.

On the upside, the reader is treated to an in-depth examination of Harvey, a character who turns out to be much more enthralling and more sympathetic than we expect. Without giving away too much of the plot, it still seems fair to say that Harvey's critical flaw is that he makes way too much of the forces that surround him, always opting for the convoluted way out as opposed to the more simple idea. It turns him into a pleasantly complex character: a man whose whole life is comic books finds himself in a hard-boiled mystery that he feels he alone must solve, almost as if he himself is turning into a character. It's a wonderfully executed parallel.

Fortunately, Moore's supporting cast doesn't let Harvey down. The story is populated with characters that are fairly obviously drawn in black and white, and we know from the get-go who is good and who is bad. Jeff, the truly thuggish bully, provides a number of potential conflicts and shifts to the mystery, and though he is pretty unoriginal, he serves his function to the story well. Maisie too is a refreshing but flat love interest, Harvey's foil in many ways but also attracted to him in an unrealistic (but very comic-like) manner. And though Bleeder Odd appears only at a few select moments in the book, Harvey's obsession and description bring him to life like a fine supporting actor.

If the novel's characterization is its strength, though, the plotting of the climax is its downfall. There is a certain amount of inexorability that Moore plants throughout the novel: even though the ultimate resolution of the murder is only a little bit surprising, we see it coming and anticipate that things will all reveal themselves feasibly in the end. Instead, perhaps taking the "cliffhanger" approach, Moore turns the tables on the reader in the final pages, crafting an ending that is as frustrating as it is unsatisfying. It's hard to describe without spoiling it all, but suffice to say that it doesn't seem terribly consistent with the wonderful characterization that was the novel's hallmark. One suspects Moore wanted to throw in one last twist to stun the reader, but it feels more like a punch in the gut than a playful shove. Until the last 20 pages, the novel was fantastic; the final moments, however, felt a bit like a betrayal.

Despite the last-second machinations of a perhaps overly clever author, The Swap manages to elevate itself beyond its presumptively humble origins. The work rises above the level of mere pulp, delivering characters that we care enough about to want to follow them through a journey of increasing (and increasingly unnecessary) complexity. While the audience for such a novel seems hard to pin down, it is a mostly fine example of a classical mystery, smattered with British slang and plenty of vulgarity, yet possessing a surprising amount of heart. It's most certainly worth the read -- well, at least the first 250 pages are. After that, you be the judge. show less

Antony Moore puts the reader inside the mind of Harvey Briscow a comic shop owner returning home for his 20th reunion. Inside Harvey's mind is not always a comfortable place to be, as he is a self-centered, shallow, un-inspired and immature fellow, whose obsession with a comic book swap made in his youth, leads him down a slippery, downward spiral. Although Harvey really is a simple and shallow guy, who makes things harder and harder on himself as the story progresses, I found myself forgiving Harvey his transgressions and hoping things would work out for him in the long run. At times I even found myself laughing out loud at his outlandish and selfish thoughts. Even though it was obvious he was repeatedly and royally messing up, somehow show more I still was keeping fingers crossed for ole' Harvey. This was a unique and entertaining read. The only disappointment was the way in which things wrapped up. I can live with the actual ending, but the way in which the conclusion was delivered was a bit of a letdown. show less

This is one of those books I should have reviewed back when I first read it, but am only truly getting around to now. The cover was what first attracted me to it, and ultimately proved to be the very best thing about the book. Brilliant, classic comic book style cover that reveals, in part, what the bulk of the book is following. In this case, a stunted man's desire to get back his childhood copy of Action Comics #1 from a boy he traded it to for a different comic.

This book is meant to be humorous, but to me it just came across as entirely frustrating. This read a bit like a first draft that needed a few more rewrites and a better editor before being released. I found nothing about the main character compelling or desirable, which made show more the women in his life rather unbelievable. The ending, likewise, frustrated me deeply as little about the main character changed. He remained the stunted loser he was at the start, lacking remorse or basic empathy for others. I have no patience for anyone so self-pitying who has no desire to better themselves and he seemed to fall fully into that category for me.

This was just a very unrewarding, frustrating read for me overall. show less

Overall, I liked this slacker murder mystery. Moore has written some likeable characters, such as fat, cowardly comic shop owner Harvey Briscow, who someone is trying to pin a murder on. There are funny bits-Harvey runs from danger, even if it means leaving his girlfriend to face it alone.
There are also problems with the writing in areas, so I'm assuming this is Moore's first novel. Much of the dialogue is cliched, and even though Harvey points out that his words are tired it doesn't make it any better. There are some awkwardly written brief sex scenes, and there are only two real murder suspects throughout the book, so it's one or the other and they both have the same motive. Not much suspense. The ending was unsatisfying, yet I would show more probably read a future novel from Moore because when he gets it right it's fun. show less

If you're a fan of the unlikeable-character-makes-stupid-decisions-and-winds-up-in-deep-trouble genre, this may be the book for you. Plot-wise, it works. Alas, I found comic store owner Harvey Briscow's hatefulness toward everyone and everything tiresome. I didn't care whether he got his old comic book back or what else happened to him, and I'm not convinced the author did, either. (He was popular in high school? Because of comics? Really?? Hmm. Maybe things are different in England.)

Periodic point of view shifts provide brief breaks from him, but the first shift appears out of nowhere on page 113 and so seems almost accidental. Moore does a stand-up job with the lesser characters, however. Bleeder Odd, the bullied boy, is fascinating, show more as is former schoolmate Jeff Cooper. Harvey's parents are something out of a British sit-com (and I mean that in a good way). Heck, I would read a book about the two cops investigating the murder. Maybe Moore will write that one next. show less