Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite

Michael Guillebeau's novel MAD Librarian is a comic thriller set in the small city of Maddington, Alabama. Serenity Hammer is the head librarian of Maddington Public Library and is determined to keep the library open after draconian budget cuts by the city council. Serenity and her librarians - Doom (Amanda) and Joy - are given additional responsibilities by the city council, including maintenance of the city's computer software. When Doom discovers a mysterious residual fund in the accounts, Serenity seizes the opportunity to transfer its funds to the library account. There is enough money flowing into the account to build a new library. As the new library begins to emerge, Serenity faces death threats from the real owner of the residual fund.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Michael Guillebeau's comic thriller MAD Librarian. Guillebeau has created strong characters in the librarians, Serenity, Doom and Joy, who are passionate about books and libraries. Doom and Joy are fired up by Serenity's dreams and plans to build the new MAD library and they work with her on ideas to help the entire community. Serenity knows that technically her use of the city funds is illegal; she could end up in jail. She is committed to taking full responsibility for her actions. The tension builds as Serenity faces grim obstacles and discovers more about the residual fund. She remains tenacious and forges ahead to build that seven-story MAD library. The humor and suspense, twists and turns made this well-crafted story an exciting one for me.