I am going to review this book in the spirit I believe the fabulous Eric Garcia meant it, as a humorous, albeit dark, comedy. Often, I found myself laughing aloud. From the first sentence onward, the book was, and continued to be, both clever and riveting. I did find the new terminology a bit confusing, which is true with all science fiction/fantasy books for which the author created his/her own vocabulary!

The novel has a faint flavor of George Orwell’s 1984 or even Robin Cook’s Coma without the dismaying pessimism and frightful futuristic outlook. Instead, Garcia’s work pivots on a premise that humankind will hock their souls for a longer life, even at usurious interest rates! With a remarkable tongue-in-cheek perspective, and an ironic look at the future of organ transplants, we are swept into the world of the Credit Union, an organization that provides organ financing. The story’s satirical protagonist provides us with a first-person look at the life of a repo man—assigned to reclaim bodily organs for which the client has neglected to pay. The training of the repo men is basic, their function simple—Get in, Repossess, Leave the Paperwork for the family and Get Out. Quick and dirty!

Remy (the repo man) is a Level Five. The Cream of the Crop. And his specialty is livers. His best friend and cohort Jake is also a Level Five, and together they have managed to do very well financially. This is good, because Remy has five ex-wives! His personal stories, and the back-story of Remy’s life, are provided alternately with the life of repossessing organs. Slowly the reader comes to understand his self-depreciating sense of humor, his dedication to his job, and his longing for a personal relationship that lasts longer than any of his marriages have!

A variety of clever asides is provided, including a visit to the Schrödinger's cat paradox, the nature of the universe, and rewritten children’s jump rope rhymes, all of which make the book a fun read, as well as food for thought. As this reviewer has two artificial knees (paid for, thank you very much!) the story really hits home when the deliberations turn to vanity (do we really need artificial appendices or thyroids?!) versus health concerns—those with cancer can keep replacing parts with synthetic ones—but when do we draw the line? That is for the reader to decide, and I hope reading Repo Men gives you an idea of what might be in our future! Be sure to read Eric Garcia’s author’s note about the filming of Repossession Mambo, which was re-titled Repo Men, and reissued in book form under that name. The movie has some major differences from the book(s) and the author note will help! I liked the book, start to finish, although it isn’t my typical genre, and I recommend it to anyone who wants something a bit different in his or her pile of books to be read!

Enjoy!