Customer Reviews

The Jigsaw Man (Leisure Fiction)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michael Fox receives an offer of $2 million to give his right arm to a genius surgeon. As you would expect, things are not as they seem and our hero finds himself somewhat "out on a limb".

The story itself is quite imaginative and has its share of suspense. For the bulk of the novel I found it difficult to put down. Some of the situations really require a massive suspension of disbelief, but that's not such a big problem (this is a horror novel after all). There are some excellent horror ideas in the book too.

The novel does suffer in some areas though. The characters are not well developed at all, especially the villains who are some of the most one dimensional, evil stock characters I have ever read. The dialogue is quite poor and does not feel at all "real". The author also fails to relay a real sense of dread and does not, I feel, really protray the protagonist's suffering to the reader. The hero goes through the worst experiences imaginable, but he always comes out of them the same (despite constantly claiming to be losing his sanity), only slightly more angry.

Would I recommend Jigsaw Man? Absolutley, just take it for what it is: An entertaining piece of pulp horror. Don't expect it to make too much sense and don't expect any depth. Just read and enjoy.

This was my first time reading Gord Rollo, and man, what a novel to start with! I believe this was the August book of the month selection for the Leisure Horror Book Club (along with Brian Keene's Ghost Walk) and I immediately picked it up and started reading after skimming the back cover and checking out the gruesome cover. I was surprised at how quickly I was pulled into the story.

This was a fast-paced read with a bit of gore, but a lot of good character development and a really interesting contemporary take on the Frankenstein plot. Here, the story is based on a renegade scientist and his efforts to advance neuroscience by spending his fortune on top notch (but morally questionable) expertise and equipment. Test subjects are recruited from the streets and asked to sign paperwork signing over body parts for the scientist's (Dr. Marshall's) latest research. Rollo's protagonist, Michael Fox, is someone you immediately empathize with, despite his addiction to cheap booze and his life as a less than reputable homeless person (he's not above breaking into cars for the occasional Sterno high). Mr. Fox is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity -- two million bucks, and all he has to give up is his right arm! Needless to say, there turns out to be more to the "opportunity" than he thinks...

Gord cites his influences as Stephen King, Richard Laymon, and Dean Koontz, and you can definitely see their influence at work -- he focuses on the storytelling and keeps the writing simple and clean. There are also echoes of Michael Crichton (think Terminal Man) in the story.

I read the whole book in a few hours and couldn't put it down. Highly recommended for readers of contemporary horror. I will be checking out Mr. Rollo's other stories for sure.

Jigsaw is an awesome horror tale. It is highly recommended and one of the better "new horror" books that I've read in a while. It is in a way a new retelling of Frankenstein, and that is how it is marketed. But honestly it could stand on it's own without the Frankenstein reference.

It tells the tale of a crazed billionaire scientist who is willing to give homeless people 2 million dollars for a body part - like an arm or leg. The protagonist (Mike) who is about to end his life as he has hit such a low in life decides that, sure he can give up an arm. The reasoning is he'll send the money to his daughter (whom disowned him) and send her through college. So he accepts the offer from the scientist's salesman/bodyguard thinking he can still do one last good thing in his life for his daughter.

What happens though is very horrific, the scientist Mr. Marshall has found a way to keep body parts alive by themselves, such as an arm or hand, so the scientist does know what he's doing. But the promise is not what it seems, and Mike finds himself in a whole lot of trouble. It's really hard to say anything without giving the story away, but lets say Mike figures things out pretty quickly, and it doesn't help him a bit as he's at the mercy of the scientist. In fact Mike gets to such a helpless stage so fast that it's shocking. But he finds out that he is going to be a special subject that might help out Mr. Marshall's son, and this gives Mike some hope for revenge.

Of note: this book will make you squeamish. It details some very weird and horrific things. Cool, but it might offend some.

"The Jigsaw Man" is an astounding spin on the "mad scientist tale". Injecting realism into a darkly speculative story, Rollo brings to life the spectre of a doctor who aspires to be God, but becomes a devil instead. It's also a haunting story about a man who loses everything, only to find it again in the ultimate sacrifice.

Michael Fox has lost everything. His wife and son dead in an auto accident, daughter estranged, Fox lives on the streets, bereft of pride and dignity. In fact, he's about to take his life when he's given an impossible offer: Two million dollars. For what?

Just his right arm.

It's a dream come true, considering Michael was about to kill himself. Now he can leave more than just a life insurance payout to his surviving daughter. However, when he and several others find themselves trapped on an eccentric, world-class surgeon's country estate, they learn there are far worse things than death. A bloody nightmare awaits, because a man desperate to cure his crippled son wants much more than just an arm and a leg - and he's willing to take it piece by bloody piece.

"The Jigsaw Man" is a virtuoso horror performance by a writer with a bright future. A novel about the folly of playing God, its strength is subtle, embedded in fine writing and a taut narrative, not gore and shocks. Though the ending might be considered harsh, it's also the only possible conclusion to a nightmare that must not be allowed to spread.

I have not read a debut horror novel this good since Jack Ketchum's Off Season, and as impressive and effective as Elisabeth Massie's Sineater. This book is incredibly well paced with a perfect beginning, middle, and end. I can't say enough about this writer. There were things in this book that were so terrifying, I couldn't believe what I was reading. It runs you through a full spectrum of emotions and hooks you every step of the way.

I usually don't like first person stories, but this one really worked. Rollo perfectly balanced the characters, the mystery, the violence, the gore, and the surprises into a very exciting and original tale. I read a lot of horror (almost exclusively), and this is hands down, the best thing I've read in over a year. Gord Rollo's new book, Crimson, was just released by Leisure Books, and you can be sure I'll be picking that up fast. His other book, Strange Magic, is being published by Dark Regions Press and I've already preordered that one. And you should too.

I always believe debut books are brilliant for the author to be given a first chance by the publishers, and this book from Gord Rollo is no different.

The Jigsaw Man offers one of the more unqiue story lines, with a man (named Fox) about to commit suicide saved by a stranger, who ultimately offers him something even more horrifying than suicide.

However, it seems that Fox is not the normal ready to suicide guy, being so strong despite his body parts being replaced part by part. The story is actually very exciting with a brilliant ending to every chapter which causes me not being able to put down the book despite my stomach crying for food already.

Ultimately, what prevents it from a 5 rating is the fact that Fox's character seems over the top as he seems too strong for a person in the brink of a suicide and had all its body parts replaced. Instead of demoralised, Fox if anything seems more powerful the more torturing he gets.

And too round of the over the top character, after all the efforts to snub death, he chooses to go on the path again in the end.

Nevertheless, a strong debut from Rollo which will leave me asking for more.

I'm a fan of horror, the darker and bloodier the better. This book delivered 100%. I usually read a lot of John Saul but his books aren't as dark as they can be. Rollo on the other hand holds nothing back.

The story goes through a man's life that ended when his family was killed in a tragic car accident, now homeless and with nothing in this world to live for he decides to kill himself. As he waits for his death on the train tracks, a limo pulls up and a man named Drake makes him an offer he can't refuse. Two million dollars for his right arm, to go to a doctor who is trying to help his disfigured son.
This is where the story turns and a loveable character of a doctor quickly shows his evil side. The doctor will do ANYTHING to save his son, even if it leads to the death of others. All in all it's a great story and very graphic so beware of that if you don't like that stuff. I look forward to more books by this author.

Fantastic cover, intriguing premise, average writing, villains too over the top for my taste.

What I liked (besides the cover art, which is what got me to the cash register with this book in the first place): Gord Rollo wasn't afraid to raise the stakes against the protagonist. Think of the most vulnerable position imaginable for a character to be in and you probably haven't come close to imagining Mike's predicament.

What I didn't like: Oh man I wish the villains had been drawn more subtly. They're nothing more than caricatures here, acting just to serve plot and raise eyebrows. This would have been an incredible book if the antagonists had been handled more deftly. As it stands it's just your average pulp horror novel.

Of late, it seems that most horror novels focus on just a few subjects: serial killers, vampires and those who intend to summon dark forces from beyond, with an occasional werewolf or zombie thrown into the mix. What's lacking is one of the most traditional of all horror characters, the mad scientist. Fortunately, Gord Rollo has remedied this with The Jigsaw Man.

The narrator of The Jigsaw Man is Michael Fox, who is, quite plainly, a bum. He wasn't always that way, but the car crash death of his wife and son led him on a downward spiral which would lead to him losing his job, his home and custody of his daughter. With nothing left to lose, Fox intends on committing suicide, hopefully in a way that looks like an accident, so his daughter can pick up a double indemnity life insurance benefit. Just moments before he kills himself, however, he is approached by Drake, who offers Michael a strange proposition: two million dollars for his right arm (Michael is left-handed).

Drake works for Dr. Marshall, a surgeon working on limb transplants. Marshall has great wealth, allowing him to operate outside of normal channels and make these offers. Michael is initially wary, but the money is too much to resist, especially when it seems to be for a good cause. He is taken (with three others who are also selling limbs) to Marshall's isolated estate. Eventually, Michael will realize that this is actually a house of horrors and Marshall intends to take more than an arm: he will start with both arms and eventually move on to legs. And then things get bad.

While Rollo had done writing before, The Jigsaw Man is Rollo's debut novel in a mass market format, and he hits the ground running. While most novels in the genre rely more on suspense with healthy doses of violence and gore, this is truly a novel of pure horror. It's not always a pleasant read, but if you're a horror fan, this should be added to your collection.

I discovered Gord Rollo thanks to Leisure Horror's book club. If Gord's name doesn't leap out at you, then the title The Jigsaw Man, and the picture of the body sewn back together on the cover, should.

A homeless man named Mike Fox, who Rollow creates as a likeable guy that anyone could sit and have a beer with, down and out and to the point of suicide, gets offered loads of $$$ to have his arm cut off and going ... who knows where?

He is driven to a haunting, castle-like fortress out in the middle of nowhere, which turns out to be a torture factory of medical madness, and then put through a hell no sane person would ever want to experience.

Lots of scumbags in this tale are written very good and wind up navigating this story into the abyss of revenge. And like any good revenge novel, this one delivers in both the writing, descriptions, and excellently developed characters.

Definitely will be one of the best Horror novels written in 2008.


Horrordude