Shawn Riley is a stand-up comedian in stagnation. He’s divorced, he’s middle-aged, and his career has all the momentum of a millennial working a stick shift. It turns out he’s also the perfect decoy for anyone looking to throw a bunch of bad guys off their trail. So before you can say “tin foil hat,” Shawn finds himself knee-deep in spies, hitmen, and cultists seeking a mysterious weapon that tampers with the human brain. Shawn is accustomed to life on the road but not on the lam, so he’ll have to survive on only rapid-fire one-liners and his rocky relationship with an attractive reporter.

So what’s this book like? It’s like Alfred Hitchcock meets Albert Brooks. Or Killing Floor meets Right Ho, Jeeves. Or maybe it’s Naked Lunch meets Little Women, I don’t know. Look, you’ve read this far, so admit you’re interested and pick up a copy of Contraption.

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