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WORK TITLE: The Horror Writer
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://jerryjaycarroll.wordpress.com/
CITY:
STATE: AR
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: Montana.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. San Francisco Chronicle, CA, former feature writer and columnist.
AWARDS:Pulitzer Prize nominations (two).
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Jerry Jay Carroll is a writer and journalist based in Arkansas. He is a former columnist and feature writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Top Dog and Dog Eat Dog
In 1996, Carroll released his first novel, Top Dog. William “Bogey” Ingersol, the book’s protagonist, is a ruthless businessman whose dealings have not always been legal. The Securities Exchange Commission has discovered crimes Bogey has committed and is planning to put him in jail. However, just before he’s locked up, Bogey is transported to an alternate universe. He is now inhabiting the body of an oversize dog. Bogey encounters other paranormal creatures and learns how to exist in his new body. He must find and kill prey to survive. Bogey meets Zalthazar, a wizard, who tells him about the world he is in. Two Legs (or humans) have been battling a race called the Mogwert. The Two Legs won the most recent battle because of the Mogwert’s resistance to switching up their battle tactics. Bogey decides to offer suggestions to the Mogwert, giving them a competitive edge against the Two Legs. “The premise is wildly silly … and has absolutely no right to succeed on any level, but Carroll—through a combination of reasonably swift pacing and gruffly funny internal monologues—pulls it off,” asserted a critic on the Kirkus Reviews website. Rick Kleffel, reviewer on the Trashotron website, called Carroll “an excellent prose stylist who provides a lot of thought-provoking entertainment, whether he’s talking about pig-faced monsters who overrun villages or faceless suburban drones who overrun companies. This book may look like a namby-pamby fantasy, but it’s got real teeth. Top Dog is top-drawer entertainment.”
Bogey returns in the 1999 volume, Dog Eat Dog. He has made it back from the alternate university and is processing his experience at home in California. Bogey has chosen to rid himself of his ill-gotten wealth and is giving it away to charities. When a being called Mr. Dark puts in place a scheme created by the devil himself, Bogey is forced to take action. The evil plan involves putting a puppet President in charge of the U.S. Comparing the volume to Top Dog, a reviewer in Publishers Weekly called Dog Eat Dog “equally fine, an entertaining hybrid of fantasy, thriller and moral tale.” “Dog Eat Dog, the sequel to Jerry Jay Carroll’s Top Dog manages to be funnier, more topical and just as exciting as its predecessor,” asserted Kleffel, the writer on the Trashotron website. Kleffel added: “No matter what he’s writing, his wit and crackling prose pretty much overshadow everything else that’s going on.” However, Liam Callanan, critic on the New York Times website, suggested: “Somehow this novel never quite manages to claim its own identity; too often, Carroll pauses to brief new readers on relevant material from the first book.”
Inhuman Beings
Inhuman Beings stars Goodwin Armstrong, a private detective and former police officer, who is working in San Francisco. A new detective agency called Security Concerns has recently moved into town and is taking Armstrong’s business. He is relieved when he receives a call from Princess Dulay, a psychic to the stars. Princess Dulay asks Armstrong to find tangible proof that aliens have made it to Earth, so that she can present that proof to the U.S. government. At first, Armstrong believes Princess Dulay’s ideas to be wacky, but as he delves deeper into the investigation, he realizes she may be right.
“Carroll’s narrative loses energy long before its explosive conclusion,” remarked a writer in Publishers Weekly. Similarly, Victoria Strauss, contributor to the SF Site website, commented: “The first two-thirds are beautifully paced and realized, but the final third, in which Goodwin and members of the US government mount an offensive against the aliens, seems compressed and hasty, as if the novelty of the concept had worn off and Carroll were rushing to finish.” However, Strauss suggested that the volume would appeal to “anyone looking for a well-written, entertaining, funny, and extremely offbeat read.” Reviewing the volume on the NY Book Time website, S. Michael Wilson asserted: “Carroll’s novel is tightly written, short and sweet the way detective novels should be. He doesn’t skimp on the characters or back story.”
The Great Liars
An elderly WWII veteran reveals shocking secrets in The Great Liars. The novel finds Harriet Gallatin setting out to collect an oral history from Pearl Harbor veteran Lowell Brady. Brady shares with her details that signify the government has been lying about the attacks. Gallatin’s new knowledge puts her in danger. In an interview with Oren Smilansky, contributor to the Publishers Weekly website, Carroll explained why he chose to structure the book as an oral history. He stated: “I needed a narrative that compressed the vast information I had into manageable form. That meant coming at it indirectly, making Lowell Brady a naval officer with political pull who blunders into a conspiracy, and Harriet Gallatin a skilled interviewer who pulls out the behind-the-scene details of great events. I love a chase, so I threw that in to give the story a thriller dimension.”
“The author’s journalistic style develops a detailed portrait of an unlucky man caught up in events far beyond his control,” noted a Kirkus Reviews writer. The same writer described the book as “a riveting adventure that effectively explores the idea that history is written by the winners.” A Publishers Weekly critic suggested: “This meticulously constructed thriller … delivers healthy doses of political conspiracy, paranoia, and pulse-pounding suspense.”
The Horror Writer
Thom Hearn is the title character in Carroll’s 2017 novel, The Horror Writer. Hearn travels to a conference in a remote location for leaders in business and science, almost dying in an airplane accident on the way. There, he becomes acquainted with a hedge fund manager named Carrie Alexander, who was also on his flight. The two realize that sinister forces may be out to get them and their fellow attendees. A murder confirms their fears.
A contributor to the Kirkus Reviews website suggested: “It’s all very unsettling in a very pleasing way, and readers will find it hard to guess what’s coming next.” The same contributor described the book as “an imaginative, engaging story despite minor distractions.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2014, review of The Great Liars.
Publishers Weekly, June 29, 1998, review of Inhuman Beings, p. 41; January 18, 1999, review of Dog Eat Dog, p. 333; August 25, 2014, review of The Great Liars, p. 70; November 13, 2017, review of The Horror Writer, p. 44.
ONLINE
Jerry Jay Carroll Website, https://jerryjaycarroll.wordpress.com (March 19, 2018).
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (July 15, 1996), review of Top Dog; (May 1, 2017), review of The Horror Writer.
NY Book Time, http://nybooktime.blogspot.com/ (January 10, 2008), S. Michael Wilson, review of Inhuman Beings.
New York Times Online, http://www.nytimes.com/ (March 28, 1999), Liam Callanan, review of Dog Eat Dog.
Publishers Weekly Online, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (October 10, 2014), Oren Smilansky, author interview.
SF Site, https://www.sfsite.com/ (April 2, 2018), Victoria Strauss, review of Inhuman Beings.
Trashotron, http://trashotron.com/ (May 16, 2002), Rick Kleffel, review of Top Dog; (May 18, 2002), Rick Kleffel, review of Dog Eat Dog.
About
I am a former journalist turned novelist. My new book, The Great Liars, is now available. A precise:
Lowell Brady is a junior officer in the Navy assigned to the White House. He gets an insider’s view of the treachery in the run up to Pearl Harbor. He lives with Churchill, with President Roosevelt’s approval, to eavesdrop on strategy sessions about how to pull the United States into war. His duties are not taxing and allow plenty of time for his favorite pursuits, gambling and chasing after women. Unhappily for him, what he knows makes him dangerous and he is sent to the hottest war zones. The stories he tells horrify a naïve Smithsonian researcher and she must flee with him when government agents learn he escaped death and could ruin the reputations of powerful people.
My previous novels, which generated generous praise, are Top Dog, now an eBook, and Inhuman Beings.
QUOTED: "I needed a narrative that compressed the vast information I had into manageable form. That meant coming at it indirectly, making Lowell Brady a naval officer with political pull who blunders into a conspiracy, and Harriet Gallatin a skilled interviewer who pulls out the behind-the-scene details of great events. I love a chase, so I threw that in to give the story a thriller dimension."
An Oral History: PW Talks with Jerry Jay Carroll
By Oren Smilansky | Oct 10, 2014
Comments subscribe by the month
Author and journalist Jerry Jay Carroll’s newest book, The Great Liars, is a historical thriller that explores conspiracy theories surrounding the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Publishers Weekly's reviewer gave the novel a starred review, calling it a "meticulously constructed...crowd-pleasing page-turner, replete with cultural criticism and refreshing honesty." We caught up with Carroll and asked him about his transition from traditional publishing to self-publishing and his work as a reporter.
PW has reviewed your traditionally published books in the past, but The Great Liars is your first self-published title. How has the experience been different?
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It was a lot easier in days of yore. You wrote a book, hopefully a good one, and gained the interest of an agent, who saw to the rest. When I returned to books after a long lay off (life and work having eased up on me), it seemed one in ten Americans was writing a book, and many had a brother or sister considering a stab at it themselves. My agent had retired in the meantime; others I approached never failed to mention how many queries they got. It wasn’t Carl Sagan’s “billions and billions and billions,” but it sounded close. World War II is now as remote to most people as the Crusades, another strike against it. So I went the self-publishing route and learned the back-office stuff, including how to count beans. It is actually way more fun than writing.
The Great Liars takes a detailed look at Pearl Harbor, and presents something of a departure from your previous endeavors. What sparked the idea for it?
In journalism, you’re like the bee that sips from one flower and buzzes to the next, never tarrying long. Some would say horsefly and manure is a closer match, but that’s a discussion for another day. I picked World War II as my subject, and narrowed it down to the Pacific Theater of Operations. Once you wade into the Pearl Harbor attack, you soon realize the official narrative is false. There were too many warnings for it to come as a surprise. Then there is the mystery of the vital intelligence that suddenly stopped flowing to naval and military commanders at Pearl Harbor. I bought, read, and made thousands of notes on scores of books.
You were nominated for the Pulitzer for your journalism. Tell us a little about your experience as a reporter?
One [Pulitzer nomination] was for the work a colleague, Keith Power, and I did to help clear the name of Iva Taguri, a Japanese-American unjustly convicted of treason for being the voice of Tokyo Rose. The San Francisco Chronicle was rich enough then to let people peel away for weeks investigating whatever (within reason) caught their fancy. I broke the Zebra serial killers story, had the door slammed in my face by Manson followers, was bloodied in a student riot, chased by dogs while looking into a rural cemetery association controversy over headstones, and otherwise had a high old time. A friend who played the key role in putting Nancy Pelosi and many others into office once told me, “Reporters know only 10 percent of what’s going on.” Pondering afterward, I decided that is on the high side.
The novel is written as an oral history. What inspired the decision do it in that form?
I had read a lot of oral histories of WWII veterans, and felt I needed a narrative that compressed the vast information I had into manageable form. That meant coming at it indirectly, making Lowell Brady a naval officer with political pull who blunders into a conspiracy, and Harriet Gallatin a skilled interviewer who pulls out the behind-the-scene details of great events. I love a chase, so I threw that in to give the story a thriller dimension. My other books were sci-fi/fantasy that addressed that timeless theme, good and evil. There was a lot of that in WWII.
Jerry Jay Carroll is a former journalist, nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize, and author of five novels, among them Top Dog, a NYT bestseller newly revised. His latest is The Horror Writer, a thriller about a pulp fiction writer who yearns for some respect and ends up trying to save the world with Ned Bunky, an All-American boy who is totally fictional. Or is he? Carroll was a feature writer and columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle before moving with his poet wife and son to Montana. They now live in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas
QUOTED; "The author's journalistic style develops a detailed
portrait of an unlucky man caught up in events far beyond his control."
"a riveting adventure that effectively explores the idea that history is written by the winners."
The Horror Writer
Publishers Weekly.
264.46 (Nov. 13, 2017): p44.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Horror Writer
Jerry Jay Carroll
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Carroll, Jerry Jay: THE GREAT LIARS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Oct. 15, 2014):
COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Carroll, Jerry Jay THE GREAT LIARS Self (Indie Fiction) $14.00 2, 1 ISBN: 978-0-9898269-0-7
Veteran novelist Carroll (Dog Eat Dog, 1999, etc.) offers a heady brew of military history and conspiracy
theory that will appeal to aficionados of both.The Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist smartly centers this
historical novel, an amalgam of fact and supposition, on a charming rogue. Lowell Brady is a junior naval
officer looking for a safe place to ride out the seemingly inevitable World War II. As the son of a wealthy
mother and the stepson of an influential senator, he sees it as his natural-born right; years later, he says, "
[Y]ou run into men who say they want to be 'tested' in battle, but...ignorance explains the greater part of
that. Being in a situation where heroes are made is damned poor planning in the first place." His henpecked
stepfather was a confidant of President Franklin Roosevelt, and FDR decides to use young Brady's natural
proclivity as a gossip to gather information at the highest levels of American and British societies. The
president wants to find a way to overcome the American public's aversion to joining the war effort before
it's too late. Brady undergoes a dizzying ascension, during which he meets such historical giants as Winston
Churchill and Josef Stalin, but he eventually becomes a man who knows too much--and his minimal
conscience ends up getting him in trouble with the powers that be. Later, in 1953, Smithsonian researcher
Harriet Gallatin discovers Brady living under a pseudonym in a veteran's home, where he tells her a
shocking tale: Roosevelt, he says, "schemed to bring us into war with Japan, and even knew that their fleet
was en route to Pearl Harbor." As a result, she soon finds herself in danger as well. Carroll believably brings
both historical and fictional figures to life while slowly and skillfully unreeling Brady's story, which shifts
back and forth between World War II and the early 1950s. The fast-paced story successfully juxtaposes
Brady's own first-person remembrances and Gallatin's initially skeptical analysis of the man ("Brady said
that most of the recent history I knew was bunk"). Overall, the author's journalistic style develops a detailed
portrait of an unlucky man caught up in events far beyond his control.A riveting adventure that effectively
explores the idea that history is written by the winners.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Carroll, Jerry Jay: THE GREAT LIARS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2014. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A385539953/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cf55b824.
Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A385539953
QUOTED: "This meticulously constructed thriller ... delivers healthy doses of political conspiracy, paranoia, and pulse-pounding suspense."
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The Great Liars
Publishers Weekly.
261.34 (Aug. 25, 2014): p70.
COPYRIGHT 2014 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* The Great Liars
Jerry Jay Carroll. Jerry Jay Carroll, $14 trade paper (362p) ISBN 978-0-9898269-0-7
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
This meticulously constructed thriller from Carroll delivers healthy doses of political conspiracy, paranoia,
and pulse-pounding suspense. Oral historian Harriet Gallatin gets more than she bargained for when she
begins recording the recollections of former Navy Lt. Lowell Brady, who now resides in an old-age home,
but who, during WWII, uncovered a terrible secret about Pearl Harbor. And when Gallatin is ordered to
report what Brady shares, what began as a routine assignment becomes a race against time and a battle for
survival. Military absurdity and governmental betrayal are depicted with wit and humor in this provocative
portrait of outsiders whose honor transforms them from respectable citizens to demonized agitators.
Cantankerous, lewd, vulgar, and skillfully rendered by the author, Brady is as warm as he is infuriating.
Carroll has crafted a crowd-pleasing page-turner, replete with cultural criticism and refreshing honesty.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Great Liars." Publishers Weekly, 25 Aug. 2014, p. 70. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A380525100/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=2ad73171.
Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A380525100
QUOTED: "equally fine, an entertaining hybrid of fantasy, thriller and moral tale."
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DOG EAT DOG
Publishers Weekly.
246.3 (Jan. 18, 1999): p333.
COPYRIGHT 1999 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Jerry Jay Carroll. Ace, $12 paper (304p) ISBN 0-441-00597-7
Carroll's Top Dog (1996), which followed a ruthless Wall Street takeover artist who suddenly turns into a
dog and is involved in a cosmic battle between God and Satan, was an endearing and unlikely success. This
followup is equally fine, an entertaining hybrid of fantasy, thriller and moral tale. William "Bogey"
Ingersoll, out of jail after serving time on a bum swindling rap, is no longer the swaggering bully of Top
Dog. Back on two legs, he's a changed man--giving away his vast fortune to needy causes, taking in so
many stray pooches that the dogcatcher makes daily visits to his Northern California estate. Some of
Bogey's canine talents survive: he can talk to his pets and his sense of smell is hyperactive. But he's given
up roast beef ("when you have to chase down prey, rip out its throat, and snatch a few mouthfuls of hot flesh
before some more powerful carnivore shows up, believe me, you lose your taste for meat"). And lately he's
been having this recurring dream, where he's chased by Pig Faces--the nast y, foul-smelling agents of the
Devil. As a lovely Stanford psychiatrist tries to ease Bogey's nocturnal anxieties and the cops work to nail
him for some Pig Face crimes, the former canine is busy derailing another ruthless financier who wants to
take over the White House. Even Kafka might have chuckled at this sly dog's story.(Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"DOG EAT DOG." Publishers Weekly, 18 Jan. 1999, p. 333. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A53657508/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7f666d09.
Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A53657508
QUOTED: "Carroll's narrative loses energy long before its explosive conclusion."
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INHUMAN BEINGS
Publishers Weekly.
245.26 (June 29, 1998): p41.
COPYRIGHT 1998 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Jerry Jay Carroll. Ace, $12 paper (256p) ISBN 0-441-00529-2
Former cop Goodwin Armstrong, 44, is a divorced San Francisco PT battling the forces of a chain franchise
detective agency, Security Concerns, when psychic Ronda Rabin, aka Princess Dulay, hires him. She claims
aliens have invaded the U.S. and are planning a hostile takeover. The rest of Carroll's second novel (after
Top Dog) is a by-the-numbers run that uncovers the aliens among us in the San Francisco police chief and
mayor and their missing wives. Mysterious communication failures, blackouts, a plunging elevator, a
seagull attack and assorted arsons preceded by blue flashes bring Armstrong to reporter Gilmore Ford, who
steps in to help when it appears the alien takeover is rapidly moving to the White House. Despite a few
visually interesting scenes at a Renaissance Fair, and an exciting missile launching into the Atlanta
headquarters of Security Concerns, Carroll's narrative loses energy long before its explosive conclusion.
Moreover, too many echoes of cinematic/TV models-including Men in Black, Independe nce Day and The
X-Files-drain the originality from this SF mystery/adventure. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"INHUMAN BEINGS." Publishers Weekly, 29 June 1998, p. 41. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A20886856/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=059f34e7.
Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A20886856
QUOTED: "It’s all very unsettling in a very pleasing way, and readers will find it hard to guess what’s coming next."
"an imaginative, engaging story despite minor distractions."
THE HORROR WRITER
by Jerry Jay Carroll
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KIRKUS REVIEW
A thriller about an irascible horror author with an overactive imagination.
Thom Hearn is a writer who sees elements of horror everywhere and who sizes up everyone he meets as potential fodder for new characters. Carrie Alexander is a Type A personality in hedge fund management. They’re soon thrown together at a conference for big names in banking, business, and science, among many other fields, after both characters are almost killed in an airplane accident. But once they make it to the conference, even stranger things start to happen. The resort they’re staying at looks like a tropical paradise, but it feels somehow artificial to Thom; he also feels like he’s being watched. He quickly finds out that Carrie feels the same way, and so do others at the conference. Thom also develops a healthy mistrust of Hermod, the golden boy running the whole operation. Carroll’s (The Great Liars, 2014, etc.) novel offers a creative mashup of elements from Romancing the Stone, The Stepford Wives, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. He creates some fantastic oddities for his characters to navigate, including a public murder that no one seems to know anything about the next day; later, Thom even confronts one of his own fictional characters. It’s all very unsettling in a very pleasing way, and readers will find it hard to guess what’s coming next. Still, as entertaining as it all is, there are a few flaws. For example, Carroll opens with the thrilling action of the aforementioned airplane mishap, but then the narrative bounces back and forth, via flashbacks, to set up how Thom and Carrie each came to be on that plane, which muddies the waters for readers. Later, Thom thinks about his writing operation back home during jungle-survival scenes, and the transitions between the two are a bit rough.
An imaginative, engaging story despite minor distractions.
Pub Date: March 3rd, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9898269-5-2
Page count: 282pp
Publisher: Self
Program: Kirkus Indie
Review Posted Online: May 1st, 2017
QUOTED: "The first two-thirds are beautifully paced and realized, but the final third, in which Goodwin and members of the US government mount an offensive against the aliens, seems compressed and hasty, as if the novelty of the concept had worn off and Carroll were rushing to finish."
"anyone looking for a well-written, entertaining, funny, and extremely offbeat read."
Inhuman Beings
Jerry Jay Carroll
Ace Books, 249 pages
Inhuman Beings
Jerry Jay Carroll
Jerry Jay Carroll writes the daily "Lively Arts" column for the San Francisco Chronicle. He lives with his wife in San Rafael. His previous novel was the fantasy, Top Dog.
ISFDB Bibliography
SF Site Review: Top Dog
Past Feature Reviews
A review by Victoria Strauss
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Goodwin Armstrong is a private eye down on his luck. He's recovering from a messy divorce that has stripped him not just of his family but most of his income, and he is losing his business to a new security outfit that's just moved into town. When Princess Dulay, a psychic with celebrity connections, offers him $23,000 to undertake an investigation for her, he is only too glad to accept -- even though what she's asking him to do is to dig up facts to convince the government of the United States that aliens have landed on Earth.
Aliens? Naturally, Goodwin is skeptical. He even feels a little guilty about taking Princess Dulay's money. But as he moves deeper into the investigation, things begin to add up. Two men in a blue car are following him around, and he begins to have a sense of something evil lurking just out of sight. Clairvoyants -- all of whom, like Princess Dulay, have sensed a new and possibly malign psychic force in the world -- begin to die in mysterious ways. Six public figures are murdered in a single day; others appear, inexplicably, to have undergone serious personality changes. And someone or something seems determined to stop the investigation. The flophouse where Goodwin is staying is incinerated in a flash of blue light one night when, accidentally, he isn't there. And later, when he goes down to the harbor to follow up a lead, he suffers a Hitchcockesque seagull attack, and narrowly escapes being eaten by a shark.
A believer at last, Goodwin sets out to convince the powers that be that Earth has been invaded, and, when that fails, to save the world on his own. To succeed, he must stay ahead not just of the aliens -- who have taken over a lot of Earth technology, and are able to commandeer telephones and security cameras and even spin dryers to track and injure him -- but of the FBI, which thinks he's a mass murderer. No one can be trusted: the aliens have worked out a way to inhabit human bodies, and it's nearly impossible to tell who's still human and who's been taken over. In the end, of course, and after much tribulation and adventure, Goodwin does save the day. I won't say how he manages it, only that it involves a senior citizen, a steam engine, and a nuclear device.
Inhuman Beings is published by a science fiction imprint, and doubtless will be marketed as science fiction. Really, however, it is a genre-bender, a dizzy blending of one of the most cheesy of pulp SF concepts with hardboiled shoot-em-up detective fiction. There is absolutely no reason why it should work, but it does -- wonderfully. The narrative proceeds so fast the reader doesn't have time to question what's happening, and Carroll manages to invest even his most impossible situations with a crazily consistent logic. The book's punch is aided by a tight, lean prose style that doesn't waste a word and yet at times can be surprisingly lyrical, and by Carroll's dry humor, which invests Goodwin's interior musings with a great deal of charm, and makes him much more interesting and sympathetic than the two-dimensional B-movie character he outwardly resembles.
The book does have a flaw. The first two-thirds are beautifully paced and realized, but the final third, in which Goodwin and members of the US government mount an offensive against the aliens, seems compressed and hasty, as if the novelty of the concept had worn off and Carroll were rushing to finish. Plus, I was strongly reminded of a certain recent blockbuster movie, in which the President of the USA and various brave military men and members of the public foil an alien invasion. For me, this lent the last part of the novel a disappointingly formulaic quality. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that Inhuman Beings is already optioned for the movies; it's a story that would lend itself very well to film.
Reservations aside, I can recommend Inhuman Beings to anyone looking for a well-written, entertaining, funny, and extremely offbeat read. I look forward to seeing what craziness this talented author comes up with next.
Copyright © 1998 by Victoria Strauss
Victoria Strauss is a novelist, and a lifelong reader of fantasy and science fiction. Her most recent fantasy novel The Arm of the Stone is currently available from HarperCollins EOS. For details, visit her Web site.
QUOTED: "Carroll's novel is tightly written, short and sweet the way detective novels should be. He doesn't skimp on the characters or back story."
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Book Review: Inhuman Beings by Jerry Jay Carroll
Detective novels are nothing new, and neither are invaders from beyond stories, but you don't get many crossbreeds of the two outside of the hardcore futuristic sci-fi realm. In this regard, Inhuman Beings is an enjoyable treat.
Carroll's novel is tightly written, short and sweet the way detective novels should be. He doesn't skimp on the characters or back story, just the excessive pages of prose some authors veer off in to explain it.
It may seem unusual to complain about getting more than you asked for, but that is my major problem with the novel. The book description promises a lone detective suddenly involved in a subversive alien invasion, and Carroll delivers the goods right away, keeping a steady pace and developing the dangers at a quick and steady pace. However, the third part of the book changes gears with the involvement of government officials that eventually buy into the main character's claims of an alien attack, and a story of a lone man against insurmountable odds becomes a low-budget retelling of Independence Day or Invaders from Mars. It isn't exactly a bad change, but it was the former story I read the book for, not the latter.
Also, as good as the book is on keeping the reader interested in the main character, this is mainly due to the pace and tension his lone crusader status affords him. As soon as he becomes part of an underground force battling the aliens, the tone and feeling of the book is lost, along with a great deal of the tension.In short, I enjoyed the book that I first picked up to read, but it wasn't the same book I eventually put down.
Reviewed by S. Michael Wilson
Posted by NY BOOK TIME at 4:34 AM
Labels: aliens, detective, Jerry Jay Carroll, science fiction
QUOTED: "The premise is wildly silly ... and has absolutely no right to succeed on any level, but Carroll—through a combination of reasonably swift pacing and gruffly funny internal monologues—pulls it off."
TOP DOG
by Jerry Jay Carroll
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KIRKUS REVIEW
The Shaggy Dog meets J.R.R. Tolkien in this entertaining debut effort from San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carroll. The premise is wildly silly and metaphorically transparent, and has absolutely no right to succeed on any level, but Carroll--through a combination of reasonably swift pacing and gruffly funny internal monologues--pulls it off. It's like this: Bill ``Bogey'' Ingersol, a corporate-takeover maven with a killer instinct, has run afoul of the SEC; but before he can get sent to the clink, he's sucked into an alternate universe, where he discovers that he's been transformed into a very big dog. The Wall Street predator suddenly becomes a real one, snacking on whatever he can scare up in the forest, spending a fair chunk of the novel's early pages fleeing a passel of assorted otherworldly monsters. Everything looks vaguely Middle Ages, right down to the rustic peasant whom Ingersol eventually hooks up with. From a wicked wizard named Zalthazar, Ingersol learns that humans--Two Legs to the animal kingdom--were the victors in a struggle against the infinitely evil Mogwert, mainly because the Mogwert were inflexible in their battle tactics. Hence the arrival of Ingersol, claimed from the combative world of high finance to show the Mogwert how to triumph in the upcoming Final Battle with the Two Legs, who've become complacent in the ``Fair Lands.'' Ingersol, however, is completely repulsed by the dark plan and agrees to act as a double-agent for the humans, a mission that leads him to run-ins with some of the more alarming horrors of the universe. Interspersed with these high-jinks are Ingersol's recollections of his parallel life in New York, where his human form lies in a deep sleep. The Devil himself shows up eventually, and Ingersol finds himself awkwardly in charge of forces much darker than venture capitalism. A whole new chapter in the fantasy genre.
Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 1996
ISBN: 0-441-00368-0
Page count: 336pp
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 20th, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15th, 1996
QUOTED: "Somehow this novel never quite manages to claim its own identity; too often, Carroll pauses to brief new readers on relevant material from the first book."
March 28, 1999
By LIAM CALLANAN
DOG EAT DOG
By Jerry Jay Carroll.
Ace, paper, $12.
Jerry Jay Carroll's sequel to his clever debut novel, ''Top Dog,'' leaves the door open to yet a third book in the series; the ending alone will leave readers begging for more. Unfortunately, the same might be said for the rest of the book. As ''Dog Eat Dog'' opens, William (Bogey) Ingersol, once an unapologetic corporate raider (his personal stationery bore a skull and crossbones), is mellowing out in California, a changed man. In the previous novel, Bogey was literally changed -- into a dog -- and transported to an alternate universe where he disrupted some of the devil's carefully laid plans. In ''Dog Eat Dog,'' the reformed raider is busily donating his wealth to charity when old demons reappear. The devil, represented by a ''Mr. Dark,'' puts up a puppet Presidential candidate, whom he hopes to use to destroy the world. If Bogey can be torn to fleshy bits along the way, so much the better. The novel's best passages -- which should not be read late at night -- come when Bogey is stalked by rapacious pig-faced assassins. Equally entertaining (at any time of day) is Carroll's giddy, cynical take on political campaigns. But somehow this novel never quite manages to claim its own identity; too often, Carroll pauses to brief new readers on relevant material from the first book. ''Dog Eat Dog'' is as clever as its predecessor, but it seems smaller and less biting. Carroll seems to be aware of this -- in ''Top Dog,'' Bogey was transformed into a giant beast of a canine. In ''Dog Eat Dog,'' he's zapped into a Chihuahua.
QUOTED: "an excellent prose stylist who provides a lot of thought-provoking entertainment, whether he's talking about pig-faced monsters who overrun villages or faceless suburban drones who overrun companies. This book may look like a namby-pamby fantasy, but it's got real teeth. Top Dog is top-drawer entertainment."
Top Dog
Jerry Jay Carroll
Ace / Berkeley / Penguin Putnam
US Mass Market Paperback
Published September, 1996
ISBN 0-4441-00513-6
330 Pages; $5.99
Date Reviewed: 05-16-02
Reviewed by Rick Kleffel © 2002
REFERENCES
COLUMNS
Fantasy, General Fiction, Horror
05-16-02
Wall Street corporate raiders are about the last thing you expect to show up in classic fantasy world. But that's just the beginning of Jerry Jay Carroll's 'Top Dog', a very clever and urbane take on the hoary old-style fantasy. Yes, it has all the trappings of Tolkien -- evil sorcerers, good sorcerers, battles, villages. And yes, I'm probably not going to spoil much of anything if I suggest that good tends to prevail in these types of stories. What Carroll does in 'Top Dog' that's really different is to ensure that getting there is all the fun.
That's because the voice of William B. ("Bogie") Ingersoll is such a joy to read and so refreshing to hear. One must admit that world of fantasy and black-and-white exemplars of good and evil are not much in fashion for discussion by Wall Street raiders either. Pulled out of his body and into that of a large dog, Bogie is forced to deal with just about everything he despises, forced to feel just about everything he has managed to avoid. It's interesting to see how Carroll plugs this character into the story of an overreaching sorcerer vying for world conquest. Management of personnel isn't usually an issue in fantasy stories. But in 'Top Dog', it rapidly becomes one, because Bogie's good at it, and the troops are balking at those usually mandatory 'death charges'. "Zalzathar wasn't cut out for command. He was the middle-management type, better at following orders than giving them. I've seen a lot of his type."
This is only the first level of how Carroll uses 'fish out of water' to skewer both the fish and the environment it finds itself in. And while the action is set in a fairly standard fantasy world, a fair amount of Bogie's reflection is on his savage life on the Street. It's prepared him well for the challenges he faces in his new environment, not the least of which is the fact that he's a rather large dog. "Even so, I was getting sort of uncomfortable with the idea of dealing with the Mogwert. I had yet to come across anybody who had a good word to say for them. But to be fair, I hadn't heard their side of the story. And the bottom line remained, I had to get back. Sooner or later my luck was going to run out. This place was more dangerous than the streets of New York."
The bottom line here is that is an excellent prose stylist who provides a lot of thought-provoking entertainment, whether he's talking about pig-faced monsters who overrun villages or faceless suburban drones who overrun companies. This book may look like a namby-pamby fantasy, but it's got real teeth. 'Top Dog' is top-drawer entertainment.
QUOTED: "Dog Eat Dog, the sequel to Jerry Jay Carroll's Top Dog manages to be funnier, more topical and just as exciting as its predecessor."
"No matter what he's writing, his wit and crackling prose pretty much overshadow everything else that's going on."
Dog Eat Dog
Jerry Jay Carroll
Ace / Berkeley / Penguin Putnam
US Trade Paperback
ISBN 0-441-00597-7
297 Pages; 12.00
Publication Date; 02-1999
Date Reviewed: 05-18-02
Reviewed by: Rick Kleffel © 2002
REFERENCES
COLUMNS
Fantasy, General Fiction, Horror
05-16-02
'Dog Eat Dog', the sequel to Jerry Jay Carroll's 'Top Dog' manages to be funnier, more topical and just as exciting as its predecessor. While you could probably read it without having read 'Top Dog', let's just pretend that you've done the right thing and read that novel first. 'Dog Eat Dog' begins with Bogie back in the world, but not the corporate raider we've known from the past. He's reformed, he takes in stray dogs, has discovered his moral compass and knows where true north lies. But don't take this to mean that he's become boring. Bogie is just as scurrilously funny as ever, and no less cunning.
He's also been followed back into this world. Yes, the Forces of Evil® are at work again, and it rapidly devolves to Bogie to turn things around. Whereas 'Top Dog' was a set in a fantasy world but leavened with real-world wit, here the real world is leavened with wit gleaned from a world of black-and-white good versus evil. Where 'Top Dog' was the fantasy novel that read a bit like a horror novel, 'Dog Eat Dog' is the horror novel that has a fantasy novel's plot plastered over the thin wall of reality.
It's no matter what genre paradigm is at work in Carroll's novels anyway. No matter what he's writing, his wit and crackling prose pretty much overshadow everything else that's going on. As much as anything else, 'Dog Eat Dog' is political satire, one wherein the candidate in the lead is running with the help of Satan himself. This is a big advantage it turns out, nearly as powerful as having the Supreme Court in your corner. But Bogie has his allies from the other world as well. He'll need their help to stop Satan's tool's bid for the presidency.
In case you think you're reading docudrama here, let me assure you this isn't the case. Bogie's methods of sabotaging the Satanic presidential bid turns out to have been rather prophetic, in a Ralph Nader sort of fashion. But he outdoes Nader by one step and ratchets up the laughs. Bogie is never less than entertaining. More often he's laugh-out-loud funny. As ever, Carroll's prose is what keeps the readers coming back for more. He's so darn funny and endearing, it's almost unnerving. He's no slouch when it comes to wrangling a bang-up plot, either. Yes, some of the touches of romance are a bit on the convenient side, but there's no doubt that most readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough. The only problem with this, aside from the occasional pat, is that it's a bit too 'neither fish nor fowl' to easily find any audience. Most fantasy readers will pass by a novel with a picture of a Chihuahua on the cover (you didn't think that Bogie was going to spend the entire novel as a human, did you?), as will most horror readers. These books should really be aimed at the Doug Adams/Terry Prachett/Neil Gaiman group. As with those authors, it's not so much the subject matter as the writer's wit that carries the day. There's been no word of additional works from this great writer, which would be a great shame. Carroll is a real find, and in these days of the great National Humor Shortage, we need all the laughs we can get.