Joseph Guzzo

Mousetrap, Inc. Joseph Guzzo

New college graduate Nick Adano doesn't realize it, but he's about to move from the frustration of unemployment into the despair of being a vital cog in a morally dubious invention-marketing company. And when Nick and his boss find themselves with a problem on their hands--a client with a good idea who's being railroaded--will Nick have the courage to confront himself? Set against the backdrop of the early nineties' recession, Mousetrap, Inc. explores a world before email and social media, when people relied on newspapers as a pivotal way to get information. To buoy the spirits of his equally despairing coworkers, Nick pens tales featuring an antihero named Chapel Fox, by day a respected divorce attorney, but by night a madman bringing his version of justice to his beloved hometown. Nick's coworkers take pleasure--and maybe derive a hint of self-recognition--from these morally ambiguous stories. Capturing the essence of the awkward early twenties, when we're adults . . . but not quite, this work speaks to anyone who's endured a less-than-ideal work situation.