REVIEW: Meth Murder and Amazon by G. S. Gerry 

 Meth Murder and Amazon by G. S. Gerry is an unusual book, written in an extremely unique style. Almost like a stream of consciousness, but with absurd character names and place names, weird little rhymes, and unusual descriptors. I’ve never read a book quite like this before. I’m still confused about what was real and what was fantasy. Was Mr. Grake a meth dealer, à la Walter White? Or was that another story of fancy? Was there even a murder? Or was that a misunderstanding? What secrets are these normal middle-class people hiding?

But I liked it. How could I not like it? It was cleverly written. It even had emojis and pictures! I admit that I didn’t get all the puns or cultural references, but I got a lot of them, and that was half fun of reading Meth Murder and Amazon — when I figured out one of the spoonerisms it was almost like a Eureka! moment.

The story revolves around a family, the Grakes, trying to sell their home, and the trials and tribulations that ensue. They just want to sell their home, that’s it. Sounds like the most normal thing in the world, right? Millions of people do this exact thing every year. It should be almost rote by now. Every homeowner has done it at least once — list house, take an offer, haggle, sold.

You’d think it would be just that easy. Not for the Grake family. They plow through three real estate agents in the Sky Scrapin’ State where they live, with the ensuing mayhem. This should be simple in a sellers’ market. But it’s not. No one — and I mean no one — is interested in buying their house. Why? I have no idea. Add to that gut punch, accusations of murder and meth manufacture — all of it trumped up. Or was it? The weather even conspires against the Grakes. These people cannot catch a break.

G. S. Gerry took a chance writing such an avant-garde novel. If you’re willing to take a chance on something different, then you will enjoy Meth Murder and Amazon. It’s not a book that you can skim through — you have to pay attention to get all the hidden meanings, the plays on words, and the obscure references.  

Meth Murder and Amazon is a short read, but it lays out an interesting story, in an interesting way. It’s the worst case scenario that we all fear — life out of control. G. S. Gerry likens it to a roller coaster ride. A very apt analogy — especially for the Grake family.