Mousetrap, Inc.
New college graduate Nick Adano doesn’t realize it, but he’s about to move from the frustration of unemployment into the despair of being a vital cog in a morally dubious invention-marketing company. And when Nick and his boss find themselves with a problem on their hands -- a client with a good idea who’s being railroaded -- will Nick have the courage to confront himself?
Set against the backdrop of the early ‘90’s recession, Mousetrap, Inc. explores a world before e-mail and social media, when people relied on newspapers as a pivotal way to get information.
To buoy the spirits of his equally despairing coworkers, Nick pens tales featuring an antihero named Chapel Fox, by day a respected divorce attorney, but by night a madman bringing his version of justice to his beloved hometown. Nick’s coworkers take pleasure -- and maybe derive a hint of self-recognition -- from these morally ambiguous stories.
Capturing the essence of the awkward early 20s, when we’re adults. . .but not quite, this work speaks to anyone who’s endured a less-than-ideal work situation.
From Readers' Favorite reviews:
"The clever and crisp writing style of Joseph Guzzo makes this novel a well-recommended read! It's humorous, it's fun, it's real in its depictions of human nature at its best and worst. The storytelling layers within the novel, introducing a chilled-out antihero, Chapel Fox and his story, perfectly balance the misadventures of the main characters. These are so well-portrayed that one feels like they are alive outside the pages of the book, not just confined to the format of it. The clever use of language in the novel makes this piece of writing a genuinely enjoyable and entertaining reading adventure."
"There’s a wealth of material to be found in the disenfranchisement of recent graduates whose hopes and expectations for adult life don’t survive the first contact with reality. Joseph Guzzo has expertly dived into that material to create a compelling, humorous, and often exciting story about the urge to rebel against the soul-crushing nature of the corporate world. "