SilverFish Reviews - The Janitor - A Novel

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SYNOPSIS
The Janitor is the story of Roman Swivel a seemingly meek and mild mannered transfer student joining the ranks of Collingston High School's senior class and working as student janitor. Roman immediately finds himself on the radar of the school's big man on campus and ridiculed by his sheep-like classmates. Appearances can be deceiving, however .For beneath the surface, Roman is a gifted genius with unbelievable talents and a haunted past wrought with violence and tragedy. Hounded by his former mentor and a shadowy government agency, Roman seeks refuge and normalcy in this peaceful Midwestern town, where he'll unexpectedly find friendship, love and belonging. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to our hero, his choice of towns will also set him on a deadly collision course with its seedy underbelly, the demons of his own past, and ultimately his own fate.

REVIEW
Let me preface this by saying that the author, Adam Decker is a personal friend of mine, but that I intend on pulling no punches in this review. That being said, I can honestly say that this book is a solid first effort from a freshman author. Would the major publishing houses buy it? No. Would professional literary critics tear it apart? Definitely. But that's part of the beauty and appeal of the book: that an everyman without the background or connections, and without the support of a publisher or benefit of an editor could manage to crank out a decent work of escapist fiction. The fact that a middle class Joe with a wife and two infant children and at least two jobs that I know of (one of which is extremely time consuming), could find the time over the last five years to piece together a 316 page novel and keep it as seamless and coherent and entertaining as he has is unfathomable to me.

So you'll likely ignore or at least breeze over the few obvious grammatical and typographical errors as myself and most readers have. If it helps, the narrator (the first to befriend Roman) is a "jock" and self-proclaimed poor student so the style could even be considered a plot device rather than mistakes by the author. There is a brief change in voice, but its necessary to reveal Roman's back-story.

All that aside, The Janitor was a quick and almost addictive read. It took me two or three sittings tops. The first was more tedious because I had already read the first six or so chapters online a year or so before he had released the novel in its entirety. But once I got into the fresh material I literally could not put it down. Its like when you buy the complete season of a serialized show and you can't quit and before you know it you've sat through 8 hours of television. In fact, that is how I pictured it in my mind's eye as I read it – as a serialized TV show in the vein of Buffy The Vampire Slayer or more recently Veronica Mars. You've got your high school teen angst drama, then you've got your real world, higher stakes adventure. It's Bourne Identity meets Dawson's Creek, only a much more guy-ed up version of the latter. That's not to diminish the sensitive side of the book. The love scenes themselves are handled with such care the reader is left believing that either the author brought in a ghostwriter or Mrs. Decker wants for nothing in the romance department. The action scenes are described in remarkably vivid detail, and while at times they can delve into the bizarre, they deliver at just the right times throughout the story.

The Janitor is a multi faceted action-adventure peppered with just the right amount of comedy, romance and a slight inkling of science fiction. It's a story of prejudice and acceptance, friendship and love, good and evil, the courage to face that which torments you, and of course – baseball. Even better, its perfectly poised for a sequel, which I am awaiting with baited breath. But alas, the author is currently working on other projects and only plans to revisit Roman Swivel if he sells a certain amount of copies. So help a fledgling author jump start his career, and do myself and other Swivel-heads a solid or just do YOURSELF a favor and buy The Janitor.

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