Evil Fun New Novel

I subscribe to three "Dear Reader" e-mailings through work, so I get to read a couple of chapters' worth of a recent general fiction and mystery fiction book each week, and a science fiction every other week. This week's general fiction is Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman. So far it's a howl! Here are a couple of excerpts:

"I see you. I see you walking by my office, trying to look like you have a reason to be there. But you don't. I see the guilty look on your face. You try not to make eye contact. ...You think I'm naive, but I know what you're doing. But she's my secretary, not yours, and her candy belongs to me, not you. And if I have a say in whether or not you ever become a partner at this firm--and trust me, I do--I'm not going to forget this. My secretary. My candy. ..."

"And stop stealing my stapler, too. I shouldn't have to go wandering the halls looking for a stapler. I'm a partner at a half-billion-dollar law firm. Staplers should be lining up at my desk, begging for me to use them."

I can understand how Anonymous Lawyer feels about his stapler. My desk is near the copier. And the volunteers' work table. And the door. I can't keep a pencil for more than a week, and my scissors periodically disappear. The stapler? I keep it in the drawer at all times unless *I* am actually using it myself. I also hoard pencils in the drawer.

Barbara has the candy, though. She's not a secretary (only major honchos at Headquarters get secretaries and then they have to share them with another honcho), but a part-timer who likes to keep us (staff, volunteers, pages and the delivery and maintenance guys from Headquarters) in miniature wrapped candies. We like Barbara.