"If You Are A Rejected Author-Would You Abduct An Editor?"

Although, I don't recommend abducting an editor and keeping him captive for several weeks, that is just what novelist Daniel Hayes' principal character, Evan Ulmer, accomplishes when he imprisons in his basement editor Robert Partnow who had previously rejected his manuscript.

TEARJERKER revolves around three characters, Ulmer, Partnow and Ulmer's platonic girlfriend, Promise Buckley. The dialogue among all three weaves back and forth touching on such subjects as rejection, unethical behaviour on the part of editors, media sensationalism, revenge, and frustration.

Partnow has no idea why he was abducted until he is informed that he had signed a rejection letter pertaining to Ulmer's manuscript that had been submitted to him by a well-known literary agent. Apparently, Partnow apologetically admits he never read the manuscript, even though he signed the letter that contained all kinds of comments pertaining to its deficiencies.

On the other hand, the abductor is not quite sure the motive behind his irrational behavior. This comes out after he misleads Buckley into believing he is writing a fictional novel concerning the abduction of an editor; she confronts him and asks him what is the kidnapper's motivation in his novel- his reply, "that's the part I can't figure out, I said. And it's sort of driving me crazy." Was it an act of revenge or could it just be put down to his frustration? In addition, even after the satisfaction of abducting Partnow, things don't seem to turn out as expected.

Ulmer takes a swat at the media as they have automatically presumed that Partnow had been abducted without perhaps considering that perhaps he just skipped town and decided to change his life. They never received any written or oral communication from Ulmer or Partnow, and after all what makes them so sure that there was in fact abduction? The media furthermore digs up some confidential personal facts about Partnow pertaining to his homosexual escapades and plays this up for all it is worth, no matter the consequences to his family.

TEARJERKER, although a work of fiction, is a clever conceived novel that plunges readers into the depths of a disturbing world of book publishing, where power hungry editors sometimes overlook some great books and authors, all in the name of profitability. Hayes has effectively blended fantasy with realism in a plot that will sure to linger on in one's memory long after the book's reading has been completed.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted August 19, 2004

Summary

Unhinged by years of rejection letters, an author plots a wild scheme to gain an editor's undivided attention Until I bought one, I'd never touched a gun, never stood in front of a full-length mirror pointing a gun at myself. Bang, bang. Mine was a Magnum .357 purchased in New Jersey, much more svelte than I'd imagined a gun could be. Evan Ulmer takes matters into his own hands after his writerly dreams of fame and recognition have stalled. He kidnaps renowned editor Robert Partnow and cages him in a basement equipped with a TV, a treadmill, and a Porta-John. Evan shares his desperation with Bob, Bob reveals his own unsavory secrets, and together they watch the media spin this situation into a lurid tale of abduction and infidelity. Blurring the boundaries between fiction and real life, cunning and sincerity, flirtation and true love, Tearjerker unfolds in startling directions that make the reader wonder along with Evan, "Was abduction a difficult and gutsy endeavor or, instead, the predictable last resort of the desperately stupid?" In this darkly humorous debut novel, Daniel Hayes explores the human reality behind the tabloid headlines and the pathos of failure and yearning in a culture of high-stakes celebrity.