Review: Melting in the Middle by Andy Howden

Synopsis: Long-listed for the Exeter Novel Prize, Melting in the Middle is a literary comedy about redemption and second chances, played out amid the madness of modern life.

Set against the backdrop of a modern day "David and Goliath" story, a middle management, middle aged man must come to terms with changes not only in his business life but in his personal life. Will he succeed - only time - and his persistence - will tell, especially when a spanner, in the form of an enigmatic and contradictory young woman, is thrown in for good measure.

This slow moving tale of one man's attempts to keep his life and career afloat makes for interesting read. At times, it almost seemed as though the workplace was being used a metaphor for some sort of dystopian society where it was a case of survival of the fittest (maybe I am reading too much into something that is not there).

Our hero, for want of a better word, a big fish in a little pond, finds himself merely one of a school in a large pond. To keep his head above water, he must fall in line with the new management protocols or else find himself on the scrap heap. But Stephen Carracas is a survivor, he goes from being "axeman" and "lackey" to back to the top of his game, and along the way comes to terms with events in his personal life.

I would not have normally picked this up but was offered a complimentary review copy, and I did enjoy reading it.