SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
This is a darkly humorous and entertaining book. The McMasters "Poison Ivy league" college has a strict admissions process requiring answers to specific questions to screen the intent of each potential student for acceptance into their murderous program (although they do not use the word "murder" but replace it with "deletion"). Everything is done under secretive criteria in a secret location. Students arrive on campus in such unknown means that they have no idea of their location. Once accepted, a student must complete their education and carry out their thesis (deletion) successfully. Failure results in their own "deletion" so it is a kill or be killed motivation for graduating. It is an elite school with a costly tuition. This tale focuses on 3 students (one who is on scholarship by means of an unknown benefactor). The characters, setting and plot were so much fun. I particularly enjoyed the execution (pun intended) of each student's thesis. Clever and fun! I hope there may be more tales to come regarding this school of "higher education".
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Having once been one of the victims of a sadistic boss, the title of Rupert Holmes' book, Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, immediately caught my attention, but it wasn't until I read one review in particular that I knew I had to read it. I chose to listen to the audiobook version, and the voices of Simon Vance and Neil Patrick Harris did this darkly funny story full justice.
I know not everyone appreciates this sort of humor (black? dark? morbid?), but I've used it most of my life to cope with some of the things that have happened to me. No matter how awful, it is possible to find a funny side to everything, and Holmes does that so brilliantly here that when I wasn't wincing at how gut-wrenchingly terrible the employers were, I was either smiling or laughing-- and wanting each of the students to succeed in their respective deletions. One of the things Holmes does so well is to prove that the world would indeed be a better place if the bosses of McMasters students Cliff Iverson, Gemma Lindley, and Dulcie Mown would disappear from the face of the earth.
Readers follow each "Poison Ivy League" student through orientation, training, and the final thesis, and I was happy to see that Holmes is currently working on the next book in the series. I'm also fighting the temptation to buy a hardcover copy to experience the story all over again. If your sense of humor is similar to mine, you should love Murder Your Employer.
I know not everyone appreciates this sort of humor (black? dark? morbid?), but I've used it most of my life to cope with some of the things that have happened to me. No matter how awful, it is possible to find a funny side to everything, and Holmes does that so brilliantly here that when I wasn't wincing at how gut-wrenchingly terrible the employers were, I was either smiling or laughing-- and wanting each of the students to succeed in their respective deletions. One of the things Holmes does so well is to prove that the world would indeed be a better place if the bosses of McMasters students Cliff Iverson, Gemma Lindley, and Dulcie Mown would disappear from the face of the earth.
Readers follow each "Poison Ivy League" student through orientation, training, and the final thesis, and I was happy to see that Holmes is currently working on the next book in the series. I'm also fighting the temptation to buy a hardcover copy to experience the story all over again. If your sense of humor is similar to mine, you should love Murder Your Employer.
