The Consultant, Bentley Little
The Consultant, Bentley Little
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The Consultant

Author: Bentley Little

Narrator: Ramiz Monsef

Unabridged: 12 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/29/2015

Synopsis

CompWare is in serious trouble after a promised merger falls through, so they do what other businesses have done to bolster their public image: they hire a consulting firm to review and streamline their business practices.But there’s something strange about the firm they hire—more specifically, the quirky gentleman who arrives to supervise the project: Mr. Patoff, tall and thin and wearing a bow tie and with an odd smile that never quite reaches his eyes.In his first interactions, the consultant asks inappropriate questions and generally seems a nuisance. Over time, Patoff gains power to the point where he seems to be running the whole company. He enacts arbitrary and invasive changes to office protocol; he places cameras all over the building, causing paranoia among the workers; he calls employees at all hours of the night; and he visits some of their homes and menaces their families. People who defy the consultant get fired … or worse. The employees of CompWare soon realize they’re not just fighting for their jobs: they’re fighting for their lives.The Consultant is a biting workplace satire with the horrific touches only Bentley Little could provide.

About Bentley Little

Bentley Little is the author of numerous novels, short stories, articles, essays, and reviews. After earning a BA in communications and an MA in English, he sold his soul and abandoned all artistic integrity, working for eight years as a bureaucrat for a midsized city in Orange County, California. His first novel, The Revelation, won the 1990 Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award for best first novel. A Luddite with no access to the internet, he still listens to vinyl records and does not own a cell phone, an iPod, an MP3 player, or a Blackberry. He has one wife and one son.

About Ramiz Monsef

Ramiz Monsef has spent several seasons as a member of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s acting company, and he is the playwright of OSF’s 2013 production The Unfortunates. He has also appeared onstage in New York and in numerous regional productions.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on June 04, 2024

Shortlisted for the CWA Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation I had to call the police. But as I pressed the number I stopped. What would I tell them? I could explain things as they were. I was about to dial the number again when I thought of what I would say: There’s been a murder, but it looks lik......more

Goodreads review by Queralt✨ on January 19, 2024

I’m in two minds about this. Everything about the Consultant’s work and restructurings was fun but some chapters were… well, too focused on erections and masturbation and things that I do not particularly enjoy reading. So 2.5 rounded up because the good bits were really good. The Consultant follows......more

Goodreads review by Bella Azam on December 14, 2023

Average 3.5 stars. Thank you to @definitelybooks #pansingdistribution for a review copy. Tw: suicide,death, murder The Consultant is slick in a sense that you are following this sort of like diary entries or autobiography (?) of an unnamed narrator of his life as a"consultant". You heard consultant but......more

Goodreads review by h on July 06, 2024

3.5🌟......more

Goodreads review by Nuria on April 04, 2025

Empezaré diciendo que este libro me ha hecho reflexionar. Me ha gustado, pero deja una sensación agridulce, por el tema del que trata. El protagonista es algo así como un guionista de muertes por encargo. Con esto ya nos podemos hacer una idea de la mentalidad de este sujeto. Acepta el trabajo sin p......more

Quotes

“Why aren’t more horror novels set in the workplace? Surely few things strike fear into the heart more than the squeak of the boss’ shoes rounding the credenza, a memo about an emergency sales meeting, or an accidental reply-all email…As suicides and ‘accidents’ mount…This is ink-black dark comedy at its chortling, devious best. Bosses who get the joke should be handing this out with the Christmas bonuses.” Booklist (starred review)

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