Andrew’s Comments (group member since Feb 18, 2015)

Andrew’s comments from the First time reviews group.

If you’re interested, until the end of April I’m ready to pass out a free PDF version of my literary novel, THE POOR MAN’S GUIDE TO SUICIDE (Moonshine Cove Press, 2014). Simply shoot a quick email to armacost.author@gmail.com


Oh, what’s it about? Well let me start by saying that, judging from personal hard-earned experience, being a prison guard is stressful and dangerous, so it’s not surprising that the suicide rate among prison guards is nearly 40% higher than the average for all occupations in America. These elements set the stage for this tragicomic literary novel.

THE POOR MAN’S GUIDE TO SUICIDE is a moving yet comical tale of an embittered prison guard, working at a correctional facility on the outskirts of Indianapolis, who decides the only meaningful thing left for him to do in life is die.

Most prison guards work hard just to survive each day and Wesley Weimer is no exception. As our lead character peels back the layers of his life, he doesn’t like what he sees. A twice-divorced father of two, he realizes his life has grown lifeless. With child support payments sucking him dry, and most of his free time spent either taking care of his crippled mother or struggling through painful visits with his children, Wesley can’t help but wonder if there’s any point to carrying on.

With Christmas right around the corner, Wesley persuades a prisoner to strangle him for ten thousand dollars – this way, at least his kids can cash in on the life insurance. There’s just one problem…he doesn’t have ten thousand dollars!

This noir ‘why-done-it’ offers a humanizing look at both inmates and guards as it propels readers into the guts of a bleak yet fascinating subculture, while offering a spiritual life-ring to a drowning demographic: non-custodial fathers.

In fact, THE POOR MAN’S GUIDE TO SUICIDE was short-listed by the Library Journal as one of the best “Books for Dudes” in 2014:

http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/201...

***And what are other people saying???

"A beautiful portrait of a decent man at the end of his rope.”
--Scott Phillips, bestselling author of THE ICE HARVEST

"A somber yet hopeful walk along the ledge."
--Kirkus

“Armacost’s fictional depiction of depression has an alarmingly real feel.”
--Library Journal

"A powerful read that will satisfy any who like dark, gritty noir writing ..."
--MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"Funny and well-conceived."
--Dan Fante, author of CHUMP CHANGE and MOOCH

"The descriptions of Wesley’s shifts and prison routines are gripping. This is a rare opportunity to see prison life from a guard’s point of view."
--Galina Roizman, Portland Book Review

From the outset, you will encounter a shockingly honest first-person narrative that establishes a hauntingly intimate tone, as we see from the novel’s opening:
“FOR a long time now, I’ve wanted to kill myself. The closer Christmas gets, the worse I feel. About everything. So for the sake of the kids, I thought perhaps I could take out a sizable life insurance policy, which I’ve already done, and then pay someone to kill me. For most people, it might be pretty hard to find the right person, to find someone both willing to act and yet competent enough to do the job without suffering the paralysis of contrition, without botching the whole affair. True, most people don’t know many professional killers but, lucky me, I’m a prison guard…”

WARNING: this novel contains a fair amount of profanity as well as graphic depictions of sex and violence.

If you’re still interested, please please pop me a note at armacost.author@gmail.com

All the best,
AHA