The Jigsaw Man.(Book review)

The Jigsaw Man

Gord Rollo

Dorchester Publishing Company, Inc.

New York, NY

9780843960129 $7.99

If you haven't heard of Gord Rollo, don't feel alone. Though many of his short stories and novella length works have been published in professional as well as semi-professional publications, The Jigsaw Man is Rollo's first mass market published novel. Judging by his storytelling capabilities, this is only the first we will hear from this creative and innovative writer.

The prologue here tells readers the reason why Michael Fox is the protagonist and why he was ripe for the coming events in The Jigsaw Man. Readers may not see it on the opening page or two, but once Part One "The Bridge" is digested, readers will think it a bit hard to lay down this tale before they have completed it.

At what price would you part with one of your legs? Would you take one hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, one million dollars? Say it is for medical purposes and you know that your leg will assist researchers with discovering procedures which could help a lot of people. Would this make you more inclined to part with the appendage? Michael Fox, the leading character here, realizes his price and signs a contract to part with one of his arms. Before you shake your head and say, "No, I can't understand that," read Fox's rationalizations and chances are good that you will find some reasons with which you may even agree. In a hidden clinic, Fox finds that he is not the only one selling something and it is not long before he realizes that something considerably more disturbing is going on at "The Castle." One of the earlier clues is on a video tape Dr. Marshall, doctor in charge and owner of the clinic, shows to the "arrivals."

"The most amazing thing by far--and if I'd seen it anywhere else I'd have laughed and sworn it was faked--was a human head severed below the chin, with its spinal column still attached but openly exposed in a glass chamber filled with some milky amber-colored fluid. It was the head of a male, a dark-haired man whose age was virtually impossible for me to guess at. His eyes would open and close every four or five seconds, his nose twitched steadily, and once during the thirty seconds the head was on the film, his moth opened up wide in what appeared to be a silent scream."

---age 58, Jigsaw Man

After viewing the film, Fox and the other guests find that things really go downhill quickly. Other discoveries are made, like the good doctor's mutilated son's head being kept alive by machines, and Fox finds himself a threat to the doctor's planned schedule. Fox is finally tied down and locked in by "the powers that be."

Rollo shows a certain expertise in characterization. In Jigsaw Man, he has breathed life into a number of people you may recognize from every day dealings. Readers won't have a problem envisioning any single character from this yarn. Too bad that sharing any of them would ruin the effect of the book. Sorry, you'll just have to read them for yourself!

This book will scare you.

The scare may be different than most horror tales scare, but you will be scared. You will still be compelled to finish the story, however. This book is for people with the stomach for medical horror. It will make you queasy. Following The Jigsaw Man is an excerpt from Crimson, Rollo's second book from Leisure. I have a feeling that we will be seeing many more dark dreams from Gord Rollo's pen. Many more.

Christina Johns

Reviewer

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