The Jigsaw Man
Gord Rollo
Leisure, Aug 2008, $7.99
ISBN 9780843960129

On the verge of committing suicide, Michael Fox is stopped by a stranger who does not care less if he kills himself. However, he does offer Michael two million dollars for his right arm. Stunned, Michael agrees to give up his arm for cold cash on the line.

The surgeon takes Michael to a secretive operating room. Meanwhile Michael begins to have doubts whether the money is worth his limb. As he reconsiders his agreement, Michael quickly realizes two disturbing facts. He is not the only'donor'and his host has plans to remove other body parts as needed from any of these fools. Michael demands release from the contract but the surgeon locks him away as the only way out is as a corpse.

This is an exciting thriller sort of like Dr. Frankenstein in the Twilight Zone. The story line is fast-paved with a steady level of tension that never soars very high although some graphic surgical scenes will take readers out of their comfort zone. Michael is the key as the audience will wonder whether he has the will to live as the surgeon selected him because he was about to kill himself; the prerequisite for a position with the surgeon. Gord Rollo writes an engaging cautionary tale that questions the sources of the harvesting of body parts.

Harriet Klausner