Author: Orr Agam

Publisher: Xlibris

ISBN: 978-1-6641-4682-2

The disclaimer on the inside jacket of Orr Agam’s The Fixer’s Mess states the traditional text that the book is a work of fiction and the names, characters, business, events, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Yet, throughout the book, I could not help separating the story from many of the incidents associated with Donald Trump and his team of sycophants.

If you recall, Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, characterized himself as his “fixer.” Taking a page from Trumps’ unending saga, the protagonist in this novella is a slick intimidating attorney, Max Cedar, whose sole client is the megalomaniac billionaire Duncan Thomas. Sound familiar?

The narrative unfolds when Cedar receives a phone call from Duncan, ordering him to fly from New York to San Francisco. Cedar asks himself what kind of individual demands that his lawyer urgently fly cross-country just to be humiliated? And his answer: “This could only be “a narcissistic psychopath compelled to prove his control and domination over my body and soul.”

Cedar confesses that he had done a rotten job with an assignment given to him by Duncan. A journalist for the New Jersey News, Sarah Verand, had been working on an article that implicated Duncan and a stripper by the name of London. Duncan loved attention, but not the kind that would involve this kind of scoop. This is something he abhorred. When Cedar first visited London, he was supposed to have “fixed” things up and not have her drivel about her liaison with Duncan to a reporter. To keep London quiet, Cedar had paid her off, but not in cash, which angered Duncan.

According to London, Verand had called her to confirm her intimate affair with Duncan. Although London tells Cedar that she revealed nothing, he doesn’t trust her. London further tells Cedar that Verand got wind of the liaison from someone else. Still, she would not tell her who it was that revealed the information. Further on in the story, we hear that Duncan’s relationship with London is further complicated than originally reported to Cedar. It also involves his son, Duncan Thomas Jr. and others in Duncan’s orbit, including his accountant Larry.

To “fix” things up, Cedar pays a visit to Verand to sway her to trash the story concerning Thomas and London. He tries to bribe her, promising her that Duncan will grant her an exclusive to a new hotel opening in Dubai. He will even fly her there, all expenses paid. Verand declines the offer and tells Cedar that the story is too big to ignore. Someone else will ultimately break it. Cedar becomes very aggressive and threatens her if she publishes the piece. Shortly after Cedar’s visit, Verand is found murdered. Cedar is now caught up in her murder. He realizes that Duncan’s accountant, Larry, had aided in framing him for murder, extortion, and witness tampering. He is now compelled to cover his butt to ward off being committed to prison.

Agam’s writing is devilish, and he is not hesitant to imagine wildly or to take for granted that you will travel with him down on an imaginative plot. He has produced a potent blend of suspense and cock-eyed humor that is heavily reminiscent of Trump’s transgressions as well as the characters that were in his employ.