Shrinkage is a dark comedy novel written by legendary comic book writer Chuck Dixon. It was published by Bruno Books.
From the descriptions,
“Jeff is a shoplifter working the department stores of downtown Philadelphia in the 1970s.
Slick. Professional. Smart. He believes he’s all of the above. He thinks he’s found the perfect angle when he gets an inside job at the city’s premier retail palace over the Christmas season.
He’s the fox in the hen house until he draws the wrong kind of attention to himself.
Suddenly Jeff’s world is out of control and everything, and everyone, he cares about is drawn into a web of deceit and danger that even he doesn’t have the street smarts to escape from.”
The novel combines several genres. We have a lot of dark comedy, action, and heist elements combined to tell Jeff’s story. His rise from being a street-level punk to a high-end thief is meteoric and you follow along with him. I enjoyed reading about how one misstep after another throws his plan out of whack and he has to adjust it.
It is a good lesson in “crime does not pay.” Please know, this is for mature audiences with lots of strong foul language. If you do not mind that, you are in for an entertaining ride as Jeff goes from one crisis to another in both his criminal life and his personal life.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, anime, movie, or novel you would like me to review.