Available Formats
Human Solutions: A Novel
By (Author) Avi Silberstein
Skyhorse Publishing
Skyhorse Publishing
22nd November 2016
United States
General
Fiction
Paperback
288
Width 140mm, Height 210mm, Spine 20mm
336g
"If The Boys from Brazil was written by Paul Auster, you'd have Human Solutions. Prepare for a one-sitting read." Robert Hough, author of The Final Confession of Mabel Stark and The Stowaway
To most people, Javier Gonzalez is an ordinary man. If one were to ask, he would say that he runs an acting studio in Santiago, Chile, which is true, but not the whole story. Only a handful of people know that Javier also runs an unusual sort of business. With the help of a team of actors, Javier engineers social situations that meet the unique needs of his clients. If you want your boss to like you, he can help; if you want the weatherman to fall in love with you, he can arrange it. He calls his business Human Solutions, and thats exactly what he provides. Javiers manipulations never fail because he controls every moment of every interactionhe is precise, observant, and emotionally ruthlessand this has served him well.
But one day he slips. He falls for a woman, and against his better judgment and the counsel of his associates, Javier takes on her casea case he would never touch under ordinary circumstances. The womans name is Elena, and her son is locked behind the protected walls of a cult masquerading as an educational institution. She wants him out, so Javier agrees to go in. Once behind the walls of the compound, Javier meets a man who is running a larger-scale social manipulation than he ever thought possible. The man is Peter Wenzelor Uncle Peter, as he insists on being called. As the charismatic leader of the cult, he deftly manipulates his followers through a complicated system of fear, deception, and brutality. He is a man with no conscienceand Javier quickly realizes that he may have met his match.
For the first time in paperback, experience this chilling story about cults, crime, and the lengths we go to for love in Human Solutions.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fictionnovels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Avi Silberstein was born in Chile in 1982 and moved to Canada in 2000. His short stories have appeared in publications including the New Quarterly and Grain. He is a librarian in British Columbia, Canada, where he founded the librarys bike mobile service and Library While You Wait programboth initiatives designed to bring libraries to the people. This is his first novel.