The Cobra and the Key, a wicked, ingenious dark comedy from Sam Shelstad (Citizens of Light), tells the story of an unaccomplished author through the surprisingly effective medium of a substandard writer's guide. Sam--a self-centered thrift store cashier, nursing a delusion that his doorstopper novel, The Emerald, is approaching publication--has decided to compile his authorial wisdom in a writer's guide. He shares valuable advice, including a list of the types of pornography a serious novelist should watch. He also advocates for liberal amounts of balloons with poisonous gas as plot devices, as well as the trick of setting stories in Starbucks so "you won't have to waste any precious space describing everything like some idiot from the Victorian era." He frequently uses examples from the Molly novel, a work in progress based on his failed relationship with a married woman several decades his senior. He reasons that both The Emerald and the Molly novel will be famous by the time readers pick up The Cobra and the Key, provided his scheme to trick an editor's child via a scam centered on Pokémon cards pans out, of course.
Shelstad the author winks at readers as Shelstad the character careens through cringe-worthy moments made funnier by an almost total lack of self-awareness. His wrong-headed writing advice provides an additional layer of off-kilter, eye-rolling hilarity. This diary of an unlovable loser should prove a roaring good time for fans of dark humor and anyone who has ever read a self-help book whose writer emphasized self over help. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads