We all have regrets and moments we wish we could undo;
choices we oftentimes make while trying to be cool in our
tender, younger years. Harvey Briscow has such a regret in
his life, a defining moment that sets the stage for his
lifeless future. Now with his 20-year-old high school
reunion looming over him, he's forced to relive that
fateful day in 1982. The day he traded his first edition
Superman One comic to an outcast boy nicknamed "Bleeder"
Odd for a piece of worthless plastic tubing.
Not much has changed since that day, except now Harvey has
turned his comic book fanaticism into his own comic
bookstore. Inaction Comix sits dusty and rusty in London
and the name pretty much sums up his life; a life that is
going nowhere fast. With only Josh, his lone employee, and
a steady diet of booze, fast food and cigarettes to break
up the monotony of his day, it's no wonder Harvey is
fixated on that Odd trade. After all, if he had his
legendary comic in his hands today, he could have sold it
for upwards of 100,000 pounds. Curiosity and boredom are a
powerful combination that find him going to the reunion he
had planned on shunning, all in the hopes of running into
the Odd boy and perhaps recover his ill-fated swap. Once
there, Harvey sees Odd, now a thriving, successful
financier who only has the vaguest recollection of the day
that haunts Harvey like a bad case of the plague.
Fickle fate steps in and the quest for the illusive comic
turns up more than Harvey bargains for. Murder, mayhem,
mischief and mystery are but a few things this down-on-his-
luck kinda guy gets served with, as he has an uncanny knack
for stirring up trouble in even the most unlikely spots. Is
any comic book worth this kind of grief? Well, Harvey would
probably say...yes.
THE SWAP is a mix of twisted comedy and dry British wit,
threaded with a liberal lacing of thriller to hold it all
together. It has its moments, and in these moments it
shines with intrigue and humor. However, knowing a few
comic book geeks the way I do, somehow Harvey just doesn't
seem to ring true at times, leaving me to wonder if Mr.
Moore really understands the world of which he has written.
Additionally, for me, the ending leaves a lot to be
desired. Yet, it is highly original and therefore worth the
time it takes to read.
Ever have a moment you wish you could undo? A wickedly
brilliant tale of revenge, mystery, and fate, Antony
Moore’s The Swap is at once a gripping thriller and a
hilarious black comedy—a book for anyone who’s ever
wondered what could have been. . . .
Harvey Briscow—smoker, drinker, comic-shop owner—is facing
another school reunion back in Cornwall. Having spent the
last two decades second-guessing himself, Harvey isn’t
thrilled at the prospect of showing his classmates the mess
he’s made of his life. But this is Harvey’s twentieth
reunion, a milestone that all but guarantees that
Charles “Bleeder” Odd—the freakish reject who made off with
Harvey’s now-priceless Superman One comic in a school-yard
swap—will be in attendance.
But when Harvey returns to Cornwall, hoping to retrieve his
comic, he’s met with more than a few surprises. . . .
Bleeder is now dazzlingly successful—and quite content to
watch Harvey squirm, refusing to acknowledge their long-ago
trade. And Harvey—fueled by drink and the promise of a
beautiful woman—soon makes a fateful choice, one he
instantly wishes he could undo. A dead body and an enraged
husband further complicate matters . . . but there’s a
silver lining in this strange chain of events: suddenly one
bad swap is the least of Harvey’s regrets. . . .
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