Freaks I've Met
- 2015 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Humor (Adult Fiction)
Freaks I’ve Met is an entertaining, raucous novel with a bit of a lesson at its heart.
In Freaks I’ve Met, Donald Jans delivers a riotous bromance centering a recent college graduate with a heart for, and potentially even of, gold. Irreverent prose and wild situations make for entertaining reading in a novel that, despite the unapologetic vices of its narrator, works its way toward a revelation.
All twentysomething Jack wants is out of Spokane, but he’ll take a fortune and riches with his escape if they’re available. Chasing promises from a sleazy modeling agent, he winds up in Los Angeles, where dazzling promises dissipate with disappointing speed. But Jack is determined to grab onto some late-eighties wealth, and so charms his way into work as a stockbroker, where morals are always secondary to the sale.
This is a tale replete with sex, substance abuse, dishonesty and people-using, but somehow the narrator, Jack, maintains charm throughout. Jack’s likability is all the more surprising when one considers the situations he gets himself into—landing friends in trouble with their indulgent mothers, unthinkingly rattling off racial stereotypes while dating girls meant to expand his romantic horizons, and flirting with illegality on the trading floor. But even at his most shameless and vulgar, there’s an “aww shucks” quality to Jack’s speech that’s appealing.
Jack cultivates naïveté, seemingly determined to grab ahold of whatever glitters, consequences be damned: “I needed a job like … the stockbroker. He was a pretty cool guy with a huge house and a pool, and he sure seemed to be home an awful lot to enjoy it. I guess that was mostly during his FBI investigation, but still, his job seemed perfect.” Jack’s crash landing can be sensed coming long before the scene for it is set; but it seems Jack knows it’s coming, too, and is resigned to enjoying the ride for as long as it lasts.
The comedic flavor of Freaks I’ve Met is certain to appeal to those who remember the fecklessness of youth with any degree of longing, just as Jack’s comeuppance is likely to serve as a reminder of why such free-wheeling is not always well advised. There’s a degree of warning in this endlessly fun novel that removes it from the realm of strictly guilty pleasures.
There’s so much fun to be had here that readers are unlikely to begrudge Jans a bit of final cheesiness. Freaks I’ve Met is an entertaining, raucous novel with a bit of a lesson at its heart.
Reviewed by
Michelle Anne Schingler
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
