Author: Brian Rickman
Publisher: Black Dahlia Press
Published: 2014-10-24
Total Pages: 463
ISBN-13: 0692319557
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Casper is a modern man with decidedly modern problems. His chain of pizza shops is preparing the risky task of changing their menu. In addition to their traditional fare, he'll now begin serving grinders and chicken wings. Casper is doing so in an effort to compete with the likes of Dominos and Pizza Hut and it's costing him a lot money to do so. There are long nights experimenting to discover the perfect dressing for certain subs. He has radio advertising to purchase and menus to print. It's stressful. Couple this with his now sexless marriage, two teenage kids and a mortgage that he can barely afford, Casper is being pushed to his limits. As the bills pile up, so does his anxiety and he eventually suffers a nervous breakdown. Dissatisfied with the benzos prescribed to him (they only make him sleepy, and his wife swipes them regularly), Casper turns to internet forums and discovers a promising research chemical that has received rave reviews from those with similar debilitations. This drug makes everything better. He's more confident and focused; his libido is through the roof. Unable to find sexual satisfaction at home, Casper, once again, takes refuge online. He meets a beautiful, young escort and begins an ongoing tryst. In his stupor, he concludes that this is his perfect scenario. That is, until her pimp begins to cause problems. It is then that Casper recalls a talent from his youth. Since he was a child, he has always been able to stop time. Although long dormant, the research chemical he's taking seems to reawaken this ability. A chance meeting with his courtesan's handler, which promptly turns violent, results in Casper putting the world on pause and manipulating his surroundings. People die and now he's on the run. Casper is no longer the owner of a pizza shop chain, he's now an outlaw, evading the authorities with an effortless zeal, his pretty, young, and understandably confused, escort in tow. It is then that Casper gets the call from the Front Office. He's being called into service. They've been waiting for years for him to come around. He's given a handbook and a shortwave radio. His instructions and procedures will be outlined therein. These are simple matters, really. Stop a bus and prevent a child from being crushed beneath its tires, for this child serves a purpose. Push an old man in front of that bus instead, as he does not. Certain souls belong in this timeline - others do not. The shortwave will tell him who to remove. The goal is to assure the Human Ascension. Casper is also told to beware the Ilsead; nasty bitches they are, fighting against the cause and allied with the Third Order of Lucifer. Of course, this is all quite overwhelming for Casper. His trusted assistant manager is running the pizza shops but is quickly becoming overtasked, he's lying to his wife (he's attending a never ending convention of dough manufacturers it seems), he has this hooker to take care of, and now he has to make sure that certain people die. He's also constantly concerned that he will face a terrible withdrawal should he not keep a steady supply of the addictive research chemical on hand. Quickly, Casper becomes quite unliked among all involved. A Despicable Man, indeed. But he now has a purpose. He's dangerous. He's feared and respected. He thinks he might get used to this.
