Customer Reviews

No Hope for Gomez!

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"It was like suddenly getting a glimpse of a giant invisible hand turning the world. You were not supposed to see those kind of things. You were not supposed to notice the machinery at work." - Gomez Porter

Cleverly presented as a series of blog entries, author Graham Parke's debut novel, No Hope For Gomez!, chronicles the experiences of Gomez Porter. Being rather unsuccessful at running the antiques store he inherited from his parents, primarily because he knows absolutely nothing about antiques, Gomez decides to earn some extra cash by participating in an experimental drug trial.

As part of the trial, Gomez is instructed to keep a detailed blog of his daily activities and experiences, especially anything strange he notices. One thing in particular that Gomez notices, though he doesn't find it at all strange, is how attracted he is to Dr. Hargrove, the scientist running the drug trial. In fact, he develops a mad crush on her and decides to devote all his time to winning her affection.

Dr. Hargrove, however, is already being stalked by someone so Gomez becomes her stalker's stalker in order to determine the stalker's identity and prove himself to Hargrove. Which he does, and an incredibly awkward romance ensues.

Things take a turn for the strange, if not downright disturbing, when one of Gomez's fellow drug trial participants turns up dead, and shortly thereafter the detective investigating the case goes missing. Dr. Hargrove assures Gomez that the drugs being used in the trial had nothing to do with the death, but when yet another participant dies Gomez believes he has no choice but to go off the grid and investigate for himself in order to get to the bottom of things.

Interspersed throughout Gomez's romance and investigation are the laugh-out-loud funny interactions he has with his decidedly left-of-center downstairs neighbor, Warren, an aspiring novelist, Hicks, the antiques store's sole employee, who has a "pathological fear of all things unpunctual" (At one point Gomez becomes so frustrated with Hicks' bizarre behavior that he puts him up for auction on eBay.), and the parade of oddball customers who frequent the antiques store.

Since it is known that Gomez is participating in an experimental drug trial, the reader is often left to wonder whether what is being relayed in his blog entries is real or the product of some drug-induced hallucination. After all, he can't possibly have actually heard Warren stir-frying hamsters in an enameled wok... can he? And surely no one really came into his antiques store wearing a three-piece suit accessorized with sandals and a sombrero covered in "I love pasteurized milk!" stickers, right?

No Hope For Gomez! is one of the most delightfully odd books I've ever had the pleasure to read. It's part humor, part mystery, part romance and entirely original. It was, in fact, like getting sucked down the rabbit hole into Gomezland, and what a wonderful world to visit it was! I won't spoil the book's ending by telling you whether or not there's ultimately hope for Gomez, but I can tell you that I most definitely hope for more books from Parke in the future.

Interesting. That's the first thing that pops to mind when I try to describe this book. Definitely a different kind of book than I've ever read. But definitely one that held my interest through out the story.

This story should be perfect for us bloggers! Each chapter is written in the style of blog entries. Too cute! But what held me the most was the humor and twist of mystery that Parke adds. Wow! Parke is a talented author who really knows how to create a quirky page turning story that will keep you laughing until the end.

Gomez's character was HILARIOUS! He really had me rolling with laughter throughout! I was intrigued from the interesting start all the way to the quirky ending. There was some language but nothing like alot of the books out there today. It's mild compared to them. There was also some undetailed (thank goodness!) mentions of sex, but again, nothing like some of the books out there. Overall, I enjoyed this crazy, funny, book about antique dealers, experimental drugs, mystery and love.

A 4 star praise to Mr. Graham Parke for a hilariously mysterious comedy!

Gomez has become an experimental lab rat. He is required to blog about any sudden changes in the way he feels. Gomez had no idea just how crazy this drug would make him. He shares his predicament with on the world wide web for all to read.

He begins to wonder if taking part in this trial was a good idea. He gets his answer when one of the other people taking part winds up dead. Unable to decipher between reality and the feelings brought on by the drugs, Gomez is facing a huge turning point in his life. Will he have the strength and will to survive or will he give up?

This book is different than any other book I have read. The way the author speaks through his characters and builds up suspense is really intriguing. When you read this you will want to be able to read it all in one sitting because you won't be able to put it down.

I love a book that makes me laugh. I love a book with funny quirky characters. I loved No Hope for Gomez. I don't think I can fully express how funny this book was.

Gomez was hilarious: his interior monologue was just as entertaining as his dialogue, his plans and his processes of carrying them out were funny to watch unfold, even his hopeless situations were funny, though in a slightly pathetic way. I kept thinking "This poor guy! hahaha..." He's so romantically awkward and totally inexperienced. I am pretty sure he was on the autism spectrum, which, in case you don't know, always makes a book more interesting. I was a little sorry for the poor doctor whom he was convinced he was in love with...

As far as the plot, it was intriguing. I couldn't stop reading it: one, because it was so peculiar, and two, because it was interesting. Near the end it became extremely exciting. The writing fit the character: quirky and full of personality. Because it was so perfect for the character, I can't really say it was good or bad, just right.

Content: some language, mention of sex but no scenes.

Recommendation: Ages 13+

GP stands for Gomez Porter, the hero (so to speak) of this very engaging short novel, and it also stands for guinea pig. It is not giving the plot away to say that Gomez, the feckless owner of a struggling little antiques business, volunteers for a programme of testing unspecified drugs just to help pay his bills. This turns out to be dangerous, but the danger is not what Gomez expected it to be, nor what I expected it to be either, and I would be rather surprised if many readers guess the outcome correctly. This is an attractive story in a number of ways, one of these being how neatly the plot is worked out. GP also stands, quite obviously, for Graham Parke, the book's author, and while this is obviously not coincidence I have no idea exactly what link we are supposed to read into the identical initials.

Participants in the drug trial are asked to keep a blog of their experiences with it, and that gives the author a convenient device for allowing his modest hero to open his heart to us. Gomez is a rather endearing creation, or so I found, and the background of his somnolent little business is described with both affection and witty irony. The situation that he stumbles into makes for some good detective-mystery material, but even when Gomez is briefly in imminent peril of his life the writing keeps its light touch and the reader is not harrowed or kept in any great degree of suspense.

I gather that this is a debut novel, and if so it is a very promising one. Whether Gomez Porter is going to come back to us in some subsequent series I don't know. I find it hard to imagine him cast in any such role, but Graham Parke's imagination is no doubt more creative than mine is, so I shall be interested to see what follows.

I've followed this writer on the net for a while, waiting impatiently for some longer works. This debut novel does not disappoint. As with his shorter fiction, this tale is drenched in razor sharp humor and filled with odd little ways of looking at things.

Often when promising short story writers attempt to graduate to novel length works, they fall for the inevitable pitfalls; the humor dries up too early or becomes repetitive, the story feels drawn out and padded with unnecessary scenes, not so with Mr. Parke. He sails over this hurdle with wonderful ease; this story is gripping from the start while the humor is sharp yet unobtrusive.

The only downside to this kind of writing is having to wait so long to get more.

...at least, if you don't want to piss anybody off. :-)
Gomez's adventures, the ridiculous situations he goes through and his extravagant ideas are hilarious. The kind of hilarious you cannot help but to burst out laughing in the middle of the night.
This a novel meant to make the reader have a good time. Well written, confusing at times because of the nature of the characters and addicting.
I truly had a good time reading it.

I enjoyed this book. The narrative structure was engaging and it allowed you to delve into the narrator's position easily. The characters are definitely interesting. It seems Parker has found some real eccentrics to color the world of Gomez, the main character. The mystery surrounding Gomez's situation is what propels the story forward and it is interesting enough to compel the reader to keep turning pages. It was a fun read that sped by quickly and kept me interested until the very last pa...moreI enjoyed this book. The narrative structure was engaging and it allowed you to delve into the narrator's position easily. The characters are definitely interesting. It seems Parker has found some real eccentrics to color the world of Gomez, the main character. The mystery surrounding Gomez's situation is what propels the story forward and it is interesting enough to compel the reader to keep turning pages. It was a fun read that sped by quickly and kept me interested until the very last page.

I have to say, I could have even stood for a longer book that explored more of the other characters and the stories they may have to tell. Follow up novels could be written from the perspective of the guy with the sombrero, Warren or Hicks. I'm sure those tales would also be relatively absurd, though the author could make one step right into their shoes and it would make complete and total sense while you could still see the absurdity of the situation.

All in all, if you haven't read No Hope for Gomez!, what are you waiting for? Get it! Everyone's going to be talking about it...

Hands down, this was the funniest book I've read this year. The year isn't over yet, but I doubt that statement will change.

Gomez Porter is an unsuccessful antiques dealer who's decided to earn some extra cash by becoming a test subject in an experimental drug trial. As part of the trial, he was asked to keep a blog reporting his experiences, no matter how mundane or unimportant they may seem. And that's the content of No Hope for Gomez!: Gomez's quirky and hilarious blog entries.

Gomez has no idea what kind of drugs he's on, so he has no way of knowing what kind of "experiences" and side effects the doctors expect him to report. He doesn't care, though. He only cares about Dr. Hargrove, the scientist who's running the drug trial. Unfortunately, none of his feeble and clumsy attempts at charming her seem to work - until a stalker gives him the perfect opportunity to show her how great he is. It looks like Dr. Hargrove is being stalked by someone, so Gomez comes up with the idea of catching her stalker by stalking her himself - I mean, he'll be technically her stalker's stalker, but he can't stalk someone he doesn't know so he'll be in fact stalking Dr. Hargrove in order to identify and catch her primary stalker. :D

At the same time, things become stranger and stranger in Gomez's life. One of the trial participants turns up dead, then the detective investigating the case disappears. Gomez suspects there's something amiss with the experimental drug trial, but Dr. Hargrove assures him that they aren't testing anything dangerous. He loves her, but should he trust her? Would she tell him if his life was in danger? Maybe she doesn't really know what the pills she gives him weekly do. What if he's scheduled to die next? Is there Hope for Gomez???

As this story is told from Gomez's POV and I was aware that he was participating in a drug trial whose side effects were unknown, I was constantly tying to guess which of the experiences he reported on his blog were real and which were drug-induced illusions. Was he really in love with Dr. Hargrove? Was the death of one trial participant that unusual? Did his downstairs neighboor Warren really dance the meringue on an overturned bathtub in stiletto heels and stir-fry hamsters in his balcony? What about the bizarre customers who popped up into Gomez's antiques store? Did he actually meet a man wearing a fake moustache, a three-piece suit, sandals and a sombrero? Was I going crazy because some of that stuff started to make sense to me? LOL!

This book caught me completely by surprise. It was LOL funny, with the kind of humor I like: dry, sarcastic and quirky. I've seen some reviews on this book mentioning Woody Allen and Douglas Adams, and I have to agree: Mr. Parke's writing, full of witty observations about human life and its endless absurdities, reminded me of them. Not a bad thing, as I love their work. :)

No Hope for Gomez! is Mr. Parke's debut book and he couldn't have done better. I'll be definitely on the lookout for his next release.

Disclaimer: I was asked by the author to read and review this book. Once I agreed, he sent me a copy of the book free of charge. Those facts had no influence on my review/rating.

I loved this book! Gomez Porter is an instantly likeable character, and he draws the reader ever further into his (sometimes off-balanced) mindset through the openness and honesty of his blog entries. As a test subject in an experimental drug trial, Gomez is told to update his blog entries as regularly as possible, and record everything and anything, especially that which could be considered strange. Soon, however, Gomez starts to find pretty much everything in his world strange, and thus the reader is pulled into Gomez's messed-up internal reality, even as he struggles to make sense of it all for himself.
I was fortunate enough to win a copy of this book through a FirstReads giveaway on Goodreads.com, and I am so happy that I did. The pace is fast and action-packed...from the first page, author Graham Parke takes his readers on one of the strangest, most hilarious rollercoaster rides of the psyche that they are ever likely to go on, and he doesn't let up until the end which, incidentally, just leaves you wanting more.
The story is compact, fun (I laughed out loud more than once while reading this), and while it may have you looking at the world a whole different (and possibly very askew) way, once you've been inside the mind of Gomez Porter, if you're like me, you'll find that you don't mind that one single bit!
Maybe there is no hope for Gomez, but after reading this hilarious, twisted little novel, I personally hope for MORE Gomez very very soon!