This book is quirky as hell. In a very good way.
Grip has situations and conversations in his life that should be sad, scary, irritating or all of the above at the same time, but due to Robert's interestingly dry-witted and twisty wordplay, I found myself constantly amused.
Half the people in this story are slightly (if not more) off of center and their interactions with each other continued to draw snickers out of me as I read.
I love a book that's well written and entertains, and this one hits both marks.
I recommend it!
ABC Group Documentation, an imprint of Down & Out Books (July 21, 2017)
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Am I sorry I killed my dad?
People around here ask me that all the time. I always tell them I didn't kill my dad, I killed a man who refused to be my dad. Dr. Gladstone once told me there was a word for that in psychiatric circles.
"Yeah, what's it called?" I asked.
"It's called bullshit."
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Grip McCormack has never stepped on an ant.But, at seventeen, he shoots his abusive father, Amos, off the roof of their Kentucky home.
Go figure.
The murder trial dominates the news for months and brings a torrent of notoriety to the agoraphobic young man, along with a string of female admirers. One of them is Millie—unhinged, tenacious, and eighteen years his senior.
Grip has a parole hearing coming up in three days.
Lucky for him. If only life on the outside weren’t waiting to get him—Uncle Edgar (Dad’s brother) wants to kill him, and Millie wants to marry him, and she’s already picked out their house—across the street from Uncle Edgar.
Grip’s anorexic sister, Beanie, still refuses to forgive him and flees to Illinois to escape the family shame (where she becomes a model for Simplicity Patterns).
Mom quits her job and stows away with shades drawn in the crumbling Kentucky home (where she is now sole occupant).
And Dad?
Still dead, and still something of a klutz. He has a difficult time mastering the ways of the afterlife, getting stuck in prison walls and crashing into metal doors while trying to pass through them. But that doesn’t stop him from attempting a reconciliation with his son. Without it, both know that true freedom will never come.