The publisher sent me an advance reading copy of this book.
I pondered long before choosing this as my best story of the week, simply because it is so far from what most people would call a mystery. Like most people these days I use Otto Penzler's definition - a story in which crime or the threat of crime is a major element - and there is crime involved here.
Nonetheless, it is not what the average mystery reader would expect. It is more political fiction, or social commentary.
However, it is a terrific story, and it does have that saving grace of a crime element, so here goes. It starts like this:
Andrew was entering his third month of unemployment when he sat down at his computer and opened the inbox of his LinkedIn account. He'd received a response to a query he'd sent off four days after his friend-turned-manager walked him into a conference room swimming with sunlight, smelling of cologne, and the faintest hint of perfume left behind by a group of attorneys who'd recently vacated the space after a five-hour meeting.
Nice detail there. Andrew is being laid off because the head of his company has been accused of multiple sexual harassment issues, leading the corporate stock to walk off a cliff.
But good news! OBF, Inc. wants to talk to him about a possible job.
And here is the rub, of course. What is OBF exactly and what do they do? Obviously I can't tell you that. But it's extremely interesting and thought-provoking.
The story reminds me of Stephen King's great little tale "Quitters, Inc." about an equally unusual but very different company.
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