Click Here To Purchase The Organ Grinder and the Monkey 

Author: Sam Moffie

Publisher: Xlibris

ISBN: 978-1-4363-2775-6

Carmen Antonucci was a veteran of World War II. Being a family man he enjoyed taking his grandson, Seymour, for walks. He would squeeze Seymour’s hand if he saw anything he didn’t like happening on the streets of Steubenville, Ohio. He couldn’t understand why the police didn’t board the derelict buildings up to prevent gangs meeting there to experiment with drugs and drink.  

Carmen loved to reminisce about his exploits in World War II that used to bore people. Hearing shouts one day he and Seymour investigated one of these buildings and the youths began to verbally abuse Seymour so granddad Carmen took him home and immediately returned alone.

Moving a barrel, a rotting beam achieved what Pearl Harbour didn’t. He was killed instantly.

This is the beginning of this excellent story which I was beginning to enjoy.

As you read on you gather that Seymour’s grandfather left enough money for his college education and a memorial to Pearl Harbour. 

Seymour’s father however, Anthony, turned out to be gay and you discover that in later life Seymour’s therapist thought Seymour turned out to be as he was because of a scene he witnessed between his father and the boyfriend. You discover if the therapist was right as you read this amazing novel and you discover how Seymour turns out.

Did the author really need to include the intimate details of a gay relationship? Was it so necessary to the story - I personally think not!

Bullied at college, Seymour decided in the end to base his life around animals but discovered a dreadful set-up at the hospital for animals. Too revolting to write about in my review, especially if you are an animal lover.

 We now leave Seymour for a while. 

This story revolves around the lives of three people from Ohio who end up in New York and who all have the same therapist.

The second person is Irving Hanhart, full of imagination and dreams of becoming a hero. He decides to become a policeman battling against the yobs and eventually marrying Cynthia who became an alcoholic. Irving wasn’t too sure about the AL-Anon group which he attended. After his wife died he then became an item with Constance Powers who thought every bad person should qualify for a large enema!

Irving got the police job of sorting through the files of the stripper murders and guess what he came across the name of Constance Powers and realised she is from his home town. Now the circle was complete as Constance is the third person from Ohio. She worked in the S.T.R.I.P Club from where Seymour later dated Jasmine who was one of the dancers there.  She was never to know what type of a man Seymour was.

In the bestseller that Seymour’s therapist was writing, it mentions how interesting it was how intelligent minds, like Seymour’s, work after a crime has been committed. Was Constance in danger then? How did it all come full circle - well you will have to read this original, intriguing and complex clever story.  

Sam Moffie is a writer of great brilliance without a doubt and it is hard to do this book justice in a review.

One word - outstanding.