Review of The Enigmatologist by Ben Adams

See full issue for 2016 09-05
 

The Rundown

The Enigmatologist takes its title from the professional aspirations of protagonist John Abernathy, a graduate in that field from The Boulder School of Esoteric Art and Impractical Design. A disillusioned twenty-something, John is working as a private detective until he hits it big in the world of crossword puzzle development. Despite his success at the endeavor in college, he’s got a case of writers’ block (puzzlers’ block?) and has been staring at a blank grid for months, hoping for inspiration that isn’t coming. When The National Enquirer calls to hire his agency to investigate a possible Elvis sighting, John jumps at the chance, happy to have a break from chasing down and photographing philandering spouses.

John heads to Las Vegas, New Mexico expecting to find nothing more than an Elvis Impersonator. Instead, he gets caught up in some top-secret military investigation of aliens, a would-be (on her part) romance with a crazy Elvis fanatic cougar, an actual romance with the owner of the local diner, and an unlikely but fun friendship with the local sheriff and Al Leadbelly–the Elvis Impersonator.

The madcap, fast-paced and convoluted plot make this an enjoyable puzzle, as long as you’re ready to set reality aside and do some work to follow the often very tenuous clues. While John could have as effectively had a degree in fine arts, literature, music, anthropology or any other degree that leads so many twenty-something to flounder while waiting for their “big break,” in the end, his ambition to be an enigmatologist (and his references to various humorously named classes at his alma mater) seems appropriate. Like the cryptic titles and ambiguous clues of crosswords that come together, if only loosely, the vague clues and links all comes together in the end, and it seems to fit.

The story is enjoyable and the storytelling and writing is good, but this could use another round of line edits. The story is sprinkled throughout with extra or missing words: those errors that sneak in from sloppy cut/paste errors. Normally, that sort of thing at such a high frequency can be enough to set a book aside, but if you can shrug those off, it’s worth the read.

3.5 out of 5 stars. 4 stars for creativity and pulling together a zany plot, but 3 stars because of the myriad minor cut/paste errors leaving in extra words, omitting words, or repeating them.


The Recommendation

This humorous mix-up of Elvis and aliens conspiracy theories has great characters who, despite coming straight from central casting, are perfect in their roles. If you’re looking for realism or a straight-man somewhere in here, you won’t find it. Also, readers who are offended by off-colored or risqué humor might want to pass–graphic (and funny) descriptions of John’s detective work chasing cheating husbands and some Elvis artwork might be more than they can handle. But, if bawdy humor and over-the-top situations are up your alley, this will make you chuckle and keep you turning the pages.


The Rating Reviewer Rating: 3.5 Stars

3.5 Stars (out of 5): Pretty good. For the right audience, this could be great. Sure, there were some issues, but it was still worth the read.

The Pros & Cons

Pros: Characterization, Dialogue, Humor
Cons: Plot Sometimes Jumpy, Typos

The Links

More about The Enigmatologist on UBR

The Reviewer

Lynne Hinkey

Visit Lynne Hinkey‘s website.
 

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