Put simply, this book is a shot of adrenaline. I want to give a big shout out to u/diazeugma for recommending one of my new favorites during the r/fantasy pride month event in June. It took me a while to pull the trigger on this workplace comedy/horror book about a man stuck in the Slack chat of his workplace, a PR firm. When I did, I consumed the book in around 4 hours. At 250 pages, this reads a lot more like a novella because of how sparse the pages are. It’s not a book without flaws, but this book contains a level of joy few authors are able to capture.
Read if You Like: The Office meets Twilight Zone, comedy from the absurd, the distillation of existential dread, captivating characters, train wrecks in slow motion
Avoid if You Dislike: not getting physical descriptions of characters, mysteries that never get explained, strong romance plotlines
Elevator Pitch:
Gerald is an underperforming grunt at a PR form who works for (mostly) horrible clients. His brain gets sucked firm’s Slack chat, unable even to check his emails, and Gerald finds himself with only unbelieving coworkers and an annoying help-bot for company. Be a fly on the wall for secret workplace affairs, existential crises prompted by sunsets, THE HOWLING, and a bidding war for Gerald’s now empty desk.
Content Warning for a sexual encounter (offscreen) that probably qualifies as some form of sexual assault (and if it isn’t, is certainly going to bother people who dislike SA in books). It is acknowledged by the perpetrating character that lines were crossed, but the affected party (sort of? It’s weird) is perfectly fine with once he learns about it (again, hard to talk about without spoilers, but probably not what you’re thinking). The way it was handled wasn’t a problem for me, but I think it will for some.
What Worked for Me
This book is one of the best examples of characterization via dialogue I’ve ever seen. I want every author to take notes. Of course, in a book that’s entirely dialogue (yes I will die on the hill that texting/messaging is a form of dialogue), this element being well-done was more or less a requirement for anyone to like this book. However, Kasulke’s writing is a masterclass in characterization via speech. We never get any physical descriptions of anything, yet I could picture every character perfectly solely from how they talked. Yes characters were distinguished by speaker tags every line, but each person felt so distinct. Special shout out to kerolyn, whose dry sense of humor had me cackling the entire book.
The pacing on this book is brisk. I worried a bit that things would drag, since it became clear early on that ‘investigating’ how to escape was not going to be a major focus of the book (mystery readers, be warned!). Like any human in this situation would be, we get a few bumbling attempts that make very little sense, and they keep hitting walls before they can even get moving. The various subplots of the various office members are just as core to the story as Gerald’s escape attempt. For those who have seen the office, think of it like Jim and Pam’s relationship: perhaps the single most core storyline of the series, but never the only thing holding your attention. The chatroom style setup helped us flow naturally between different conversations without the need for awkward transitions, and whenever I saw one of my favorite combinations listed at the top of the group chat, I got a jolt of excitement.
I also appreciated how deep this book got, which surprised me. Gerald’s journey through frustration, despondence, existential dread, and acceptance of his fate shift naturally throughout the story. He’s not a flashy character; few characters in this book have clearly stamped ‘character traits’ but instead feel like real people. There were moments in his journey which were touching, and at least two phenomenal monologues that I reread several times, trying to get everything I could out of them. The delicate balance of horror, comedy, and humanization was handled very well in this story. They accented each other, providing breaks and reprieves, and keeping the story feeling fresh and interesting.
What Didn’t Work For Me
While this book was an easy 5/5 for me, I want to acknowledge that there are some issues that are going to bug a good number of people, especially for those who the writing isn’t as captivating as it was for me. If the Slack chat format won’t work for you though, then this book is going to be a pain to get through, and likely suck all they joy out of the story.
Chiefly, there’s a lot that doesn’t get explained. One of the major subplots is left so open to interpretation (both in what the fuck was happening, and also how it resolved) that I think my own personal theory isn’t going to resemble yours in the slightest. The climax of Gerald’s storyline and the solution was objectively kind of underwhelming/rushed/disappointing. However, it accompanied some character beats that were divine, so I didn’t care much.
Conclusion: there were some big plot resolution issues, but I didn’t care. It was funny, heartfelt, and horrifying with some truly excellent character writing.
- Characters: 5
- Worldbuilding: 3
- Craft: 5 (dialogue), 2 (plotting), 4 (everything else)
- Themes: 4
- Enjoyment: 5
Marked for Plot 
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