Minion of Evil

by Shannon Ryan

Have you ever wondered if your boss is evil?


David Graves is having a bad life. A bill collector is threatening him with grievous bodily harm. His girlfriend thinks he's an incompetent loser. His human resources manager, a creature of nightmare, is sexually harassing him. And when he finally meets a girl he likes, she seems more interested in rebuilding engines and committing random acts of violence.


Still, David thinks he is doing all right--until he discovers his bosses are Satanists and his employment contract dooms him to an eternity of telemarketing and damnation...


Minion of Evil is frightfully accurate portrayal of identity theft, computer hacking, wrench wenches, monomaniacal supervisors, and what really goes on behind closed doors in customer service.

Genres: Fantasy

ebook

First published April 1, 2012

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Info: Genre: Humorous Dark Fantasy
Reading Level: Adult

Shannon Ryan’s website, weirdauthor.com

My Thoughts: I loved Matt Rose. There, I said it: I loved Matt Rose! He is my favorite type of villain: gleefully, unrepentantly Evil (yes, with a capital E), and with a terrific sense of humor about the whole thing. I mean, obviously I wouldn’t go all Amanda on him – that’s just gross – but to read about in a book? This is the type of villain I most enjoy.

Watching Dave grow from wishy-washy telemarketing temp into someone trying, somewhat ineptly, to battle the forces of evil was a lot of fun. Not to mention that Ryan got the telemarketing culture spot-on – in fact, he struck a bit close to the bone in some places, as anyone who has spent any amount of time working in telemarketing will see when they read this book. I spent a lot of time laughing, of course – especially at the description of the movie Flying Death, with Aplomb and the other things that Ryan takes to ridiculously hilarious lengths in this book – but there were a few pretty horrific scenes towards the end, so I think overall I would put this into the dark fantasy with humor genre; it’s not quite horror.

Shannon Ryan has done a remarkable job on this book, and I really hope to see many more books in the future coming from his moniker. Kudos, Mr. Ryan – keep writing! You’ve just gained a new fan.

Disclosure: I received a free ebook copy of this book through the LibraryThing Members Giveaway program in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Have you ever wondered if your boss is evil?

David Graves is having a bad life. A bill collector is threatening him with grievous bodily harm. His girlfriend thinks he's an incompetent loser. His human resources manager, a creature of nightmare, is sexually harassing him. And when he finally meets a girl he likes, she seems more interested in rebuilding engines and committing random acts of violence.

Still, David thinks he is doing all right – until he discovers his bosses are Satanists and his employment contract dooms him to an eternity of telemarketing and damnation...

Minion of Evil is frightfully accurate portrayal of identity theft, computer hacking, wrench wenches, monomaniacal supervisors, and what really goes on behind closed doors in customer service.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely find time to read books. When I do, I am often disappointed. This book was a pleasant little surprise. By the first paragraph of this book, I could sense that I wasn't going to want to put this book down. The same way that a comedian uses colorful language to draw you in, each sentence of this book is beautifully written. The style of the author is refreshing--witty, but not "too smart" or intimidating with five syllable words everywhere just to make the author feel superior. The book is easy to get into and the characters are great. The main character, Dave, is a telemarketer who generally lacks ambition. Even though Dave is kind of a loser, I had a crush on him. Flawed as he was, I could really relate to him and I thought he was a good guy. The story is that Dave hated his job, then his girlfriend dumped him, and then he met a new girl, and then he figured out that his boss was part of a satanic cult, yada yada yada. That doesn't sound too interesting to me--BUT IT WAS. The characters are compelling. The dialogue has a great rhythm with each of the characters having unique speech patterns. The character named Raven is incredibly sexy. On top of everything else, though the sex scenes aren't very detailed, they are very good. The first three quarters of this book are genius. The last quarter of the book is full of action and fighting scenes. The last bit of the book loses what I admired so much about the first part of the book--the snide and humorous perspective of telemarketing and worker vs. boss relationships. The last quarter of the book drops down from "amazing" to "above average." All together, I'd rate this book a 5 out of 5. So many books disappoint me, but this book tickled me pink. I was so moved by the characters that I began wondering what kind of author would write this book. The worst thing about the author of this book, Shannon Ryan, is that he has no other published pieces yet. Alas, I'll just have to wait.

[D. Moonfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minion of Evil is a modern day tale of the most horrifying career imaginable: being a telemarketer. The story centers around Dave, a customer representative in a dead-end job and no future. He has a beautiful girlfriend that quickly becomes an ex-girlfriend and from there everything else gets worse. Dave's point of view is colored by years of telemarketing. He dealt with with the salt of the land, the common man, you know... morons. This is reflected with both his inner monologue and his actions. Where things that would drive most people insane, he deals with a casual humor that frequently ends up hitting him square in the face or working out brilliantly.

In many ways, Dave's life is a train wreck happening in slow motion. You know someone is going to get hurt but it is enjoyable to grab some popcorn and watch the crunching metal.

There is a surreal humor in this story. Little events pop up that seems to be minor and inconsequential that end up being significant in the end. Much of it is from Dave's point of view, but occasionally it got too much for me. There are a number of characters who have rapid mood changes, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph, and I found it confusing. Some of it is explained later in story, but it detracted from my enjoyment.

[Angie Lisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read that made me lol. Witty prose, with some bathroom humor thrown in, so that the book doesn't talk down to the audience. The main character, Dave, feels realistic because he's just a normal bloke with little-to-no luck. He has an emotionally abusive girlfriend and a dead end job as a telemarketer... until he loses his soul in a bad trade to his Satan-worshiping boss.

While the mythos present in the book does focus on Christian theology, Ryan draws on themes found throughout several religions (Asian/Norse/Christian), using these similarities to show the ambiguously layered and somewhat twisty nature of evil without being preachy.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, but I look forward to reading more by this author.

[Catherine Schaff-Stump · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a bit rough in parts and a bit crude in other parts, I found this book to be a satisfying read overall. It's an over the top story of a poor slob who undergoes an unlikely rise in his company and finds that his company has some interesting supernatural connections. The jokes are good, the characterizations solid. The story arc is under-developed in some spots, but you can see the potential in the writing and the writer.

Fans of Tom Holt may find the writing familiar, as the author does seem influenced by that style.

But I'd recommend it.

[Chris Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well done comedic / horror mashup.

Some of the best asides I've read in a long time. Shannon Ryan writes the tale of David Graves with a certain snarkiness and abject hopelessness one seldom sees outside of corporate America.

The surgical inclusion of fantasy elements is fun to read and makes the utter absurdity of 21st century working stiffs hilarious.

Looking forward to the sequel.