The Jigsaw Man

by Gord Rollo

Book Overview

A BROKEN MAN DOWN ON HIS LUCK... Michael Fox is a homeless man living in a garbage dumpster beneath the Carver Street Bridge in Buffalo, NY. He's bitterly depressed and ready to commit suicide;... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843960124
• ISBN13: 9780843960129
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 289 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Wow!!

this book was so good I wanted more!!. This is my first read from this author now I want to read more of his books. This book I could not even put it down!! It was like a movie and your in it. It was that good. It kept me reading till the weee hours. This writer is amazing. The end was the shocker. The twist and turns it was that good. Please buy this book! You won't regret!! I promise!!

Disgusting and soul-wrenching

This book was gross. If you're an empath who easily puts yourself in the place of other people, this book will have a lingering affect on your psyche. It starts out a tad bit slow, but once it picks up, there's not a dull moment. This book will be impossible to put down and leave you wanting more books like it.

It could cost an arm and a leg

Of late, it seems that most horror novels focus on just a few subjects: serial killers, vampires and those who intend to summon dark forces from beyond, with an occasional werewolf or zombie thrown into the mix. What's lacking is one of the most traditional of all horror characters, the mad scientist. Fortunately, Gord Rollo has remedied this with The Jigsaw Man. The narrator of The Jigsaw Man is Michael Fox, who is, quite plainly, a bum. He wasn't always that way, but the car crash death of his wife and son led him on a downward spiral which would lead to him losing his job, his home and custody of his daughter. With nothing left to lose, Fox intends on committing suicide, hopefully in a way that looks like an accident, so his daughter can pick up a double indemnity life insurance benefit. Just moments before he kills himself, however, he is approached by Drake, who offers Michael a strange proposition: two million dollars for his right arm (Michael is left-handed). Drake works for Dr. Marshall, a surgeon working on limb transplants. Marshall has great wealth, allowing him to operate outside of normal channels and make these offers. Michael is initially wary, but the money is too much to resist, especially when it seems to be for a good cause. He is taken (with three others who are also selling limbs) to Marshall's isolated estate. Eventually, Michael will realize that this is actually a house of horrors and Marshall intends to take more than an arm: he will start with both arms and eventually move on to legs. And then things get bad. While Rollo had done writing before, The Jigsaw Man is Rollo's debut novel in a mass market format, and he hits the ground running. While most novels in the genre rely more on suspense with healthy doses of violence and gore, this is truly a novel of pure horror. It's not always a pleasant read, but if you're a horror fan, this should be added to your collection.

engaging shocking cautionary thriller

On the verge of committing suicide, Michael Fox is stopped by a stranger who does not care less if he kills himself. However, he does offer Michael two million dollars for his right arm. Stunned, Michael agrees to give up his arm for cold cash on the line. The surgeon takes Michael to a secretive operating room. Meanwhile Michael begins to have doubts whether the money is worth his limb. As he reconsiders his agreement, Michael quickly realizes two disturbing facts. He is not the only "donor" and his host has plans to remove other body parts as needed from any of these fools. Michael demands release from the contract but the surgeon locks him away as the only way out is as a corpse. This is an exciting thriller sort of like Dr. Frankenstein in the Twilight Zone. The story line is fast-paved with a steady level of tension that never soars very high although some graphic surgical scenes will take readers out of their comfort zone. Michael is the key as the audience will wonder whether he has the will to live as the surgeon selected him because he was about to kill himself; the prerequisite for a position with the surgeon. Gord Rollo writes an engaging cautionary tale that questions the sources of the harvesting of body parts. Harriet Klausner

Great fast paced horror novel

This was my first time reading Gord Rollo, and man, what a novel to start with! I believe this was the August book of the month selection for the Leisure Horror Book Club (along with Brian Keene's Ghost Walk) and I immediately picked it up and started reading after skimming the back cover and checking out the gruesome cover. I was surprised at how quickly I was pulled into the story. This was a fast-paced read with a bit of gore, but a lot of good character development and a really interesting contemporary take on the Frankenstein plot. Here, the story is based on a renegade scientist and his efforts to advance neuroscience by spending his fortune on top notch (but morally questionable) expertise and equipment. Test subjects are recruited from the streets and asked to sign paperwork signing over body parts for the scientist's (Dr. Marshall's) latest research. Rollo's protagonist, Michael Fox, is someone you immediately empathize with, despite his addiction to cheap booze and his life as a less than reputable homeless person (he's not above breaking into cars for the occasional Sterno high). Mr. Fox is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity -- two million bucks, and all he has to give up is his right arm! Needless to say, there turns out to be more to the "opportunity" than he thinks... Gord cites his influences as Stephen King, Richard Laymon, and Dean Koontz, and you can definitely see their influence at work -- he focuses on the storytelling and keeps the writing simple and clean. There are also echoes of Michael Crichton (think Terminal Man) in the story. I read the whole book in a few hours and couldn't put it down. Highly recommended for readers of contemporary horror. I will be checking out Mr. Rollo's other stories for sure.