The Massive Hole Theory

The Massive Hole Theory by Michael S. West
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book truly deserves a 3.5 star rating. Not quite 4 star material, but despite the story starting off with some redundant and odd statements it really did improve as I kept reading.

We meet Ryan in the process of getting fired as a real estate lawyer at a big firm. He is obviously angry and heads to his local bar. Calls up a buddy of his who went through the same thing five years ago (but has since set up his own little grassroots criminal firm) for some drinks. His friend, Alex, arrives and tries to cheer him up by offering him a job at his firm. Considering Ryan's lamentations about his future job prospects, he is surprisingly hesitant about going to work with his friend. Personally, I would think he'd jump at the chance - at least it's work!

Now, I admit that the whole bar scenario had me a little confused as to the timeline of events. It was hard to tell how much time was passing in the story - not sure if this was the author's intentions, perhaps in an attempt to pull the reader into Ryan's confusion as he gets drunker. For example, after a quick conversation involving two shots and a Jack & Coke, Ryan is suddenly belligerently drunk. He argues with Alex about his intoxication, to the point of Alex admitting his rather stalkerish habit of secretly recording the people he's drinking with - just for the sake of playing the recording back to the people the next day because "they never believe how they sound after a few".

Let me take a moment here to talk about Alex. At this point I thought he was a complete freak. His creepy habit doesn't exactly make him out to be an overly upstanding guy. And his fixation with pointing out that he's not "taping" people because there's no "tape" on his iPhone got on my nerves, I admit it. This is also the same guy who is apparently capable of being "the most serious Ryan had ever seen" in the presence of a cop (who really tracked Ryan down fast!), yet seconds later blurts out a pretty incriminating statement. But as the story progressed I honestly began to enjoy his sense of humor and he turned out to be my favourite character of the book.

Now, back to the bar scene and the muddled time sequencing. Enough time passes that several other lawyers from his firm show up, also fired. And a higher-up lawyer shows up with a posse of gawkers, who heard about the congregation of fired folk. Ryan supposedly drinks like a fish the whole time and is fine holding a conversation, then BAM he's belligerent again.

Anyways, fast forward to the next morning when he awakens at 10:18am with a massive hangover. He is rushes to meet Alex about the job offer, even though Alex told him not to rush in "first thing in the morning". Minutes after getting to Alex's office, a detective shows up to question Ryan about the murder of Karl - the guy who fired him the day before! And Ryan's the prime suspect! Oh no!!

I won't say too much more, for the sake of not spoiling the rest of the story for anyone. But their "investigation" is pure hilarity. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "no way anyone would try this stuff. Are you freakin' kidding me??". But it was a fun read nonetheless and I found myself flipping the pages quicker and quicker as I continued to read. If you want a fluffy and quirky quick read, give it a go. If nothing else, finding out exactly what the "Massive Hole Theory" is will give you a good chuckle.

A side note: I find it extremely weird that the law firm didn't shut down at all when the body was found. I would've thought they'd shut off the whole floor, possibly the entire building. Or maybe I just watch too much CSI.



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