Starter Villain

Tries too hard

Thirty-something protagonist Charlie’s marriage breaks down, he loses his job as a journalist, and is barely getting by on what he earns as a substitute teacher despite living rent free in the family home since the death of his father. The estate was to be divided equally between Charlie and his three siblings. The estate is basically the house. The siblings are from his old man’s first marriage, >10 years older than him, and well established. They want to sell and trouser the dough. Our boy wants to buy the local suburban waterhole, an Irish pub, as you would, but the bank won’t lend him the money. Quelle surprise. Then his uncle, whom he hasn’t seen in years, dies and leaves him his business: parking garages. Except that’s just a front. He’s really a Bond-style villain. You know the type: lairs concealed inside volcanoes, talking cats, dolphins trained as spies, that sort of thing. (More Austin Powers style than Bond, perhaps).

Time for our boy to step up. He has an affinity for cats already. He also has Matilda, his uncle’s multitalented right hand woman, looking out for him. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out.

I liked the premise. The execution not so much. It’s not a particularly long book, but I still think the author used more words than he needed to. There’s some interesting, if unconventionally framed, commentary on the evils of contemporary capitalism. The humour felt forced, like the author was trying too hard to be something he’s not. Douglas Adams, for instance.