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Reviewed by K T Bowes for Readers' Favorite
At the start of The Carriage Master, tragedy isolates young Alex Wagner in every facet of his life. He moved to college in Hampton alone, lured there by the media touting it as a crime-free utopia. He wants to remain invisible. So, when he’s swept up in the vigilantism of an ex-state department operative, he finds himself living underground and acting as the hilarious sidekick to a violent assassin. I appreciated the comic elements of this novel. The pertinent theme is autonomy, and Jake Hayes explores the power imbalance between individuals throughout. There are so many points in the story when Alex seems utterly trapped, and others when he has adapted to Randy’s unpredictable lifestyle and actively joins in his hellfire mission of retribution as though suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Alex’s repeated mantra tugged on my heartstrings. ‘I can always hope… Hope is not a strategy.’
The threads of control in the novel are cleverly woven, and subtle enough to miss. Hampton’s mayor dictates the dress code for his deputy and implements a Blight tax for homes in the city that don’t fit his standards. Randy decides when and where Alex can eat or sleep. All of this is wrapped in expert narrative, eloquent storytelling, and some of the funniest scenes I’ve read in a long time. My absolute favorite line comes when Randy gets his Batman cape caught in the zipline while trying to rescue Alex. The narrator says, ‘Randy swung helplessly from side to side like a piñata in a gunfight.’ Underpinning the chaotic plot is the salient message that everyone must ultimately seize their autonomy and decide on their path in life, wherever it might take them. The Carriage Master is a great novel by Jake Hayes and every page is enlivened by a deep-seated conspiracy and a cast of slightly crazy and incredibly entertaining characters.
