The Jigsaw Man by Gord Rollo

Title: The Jigsaw Man
Author: Gord Rollo
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Leisure Books
Pages: 289
ISBN: 0843960124

        Anyone who was able to take a ganger or learn bits about my novel will understand that when I saw the title of the book, I freaked out. It was also why I took a long time in getting around to read it. Nothing like shattered hopes and dreams to give a writer pause about his own book. Luckily, I finally have read it. 1.) while elements are similar, both books are completely different; but second, and most important, I learned a lot that will help me with my on book that I didn't know before.
        The Jigsaw Man is not only a great addition to the monster story collection within horror literature, it also does something that I wish there was more exploration of within the monster story. Namely, looking at the monster as a protagonist. While it is not the main purpose of the novel, it is a glimmer of something I always found lacking. In horror, there are many types of monsters. But much of the time, they are used for a scary antagonist. Sure those are fun stories, and some truly great stories are writing in that form. But I'm surprised no one want to learn the monsters side of things. Does he except what he is? Has he always been a monster? Is there a part of him that agonizes over the way he has to exist? Now there is an interesting story!
        Rollo does just that and it is a strong addition horror literature because of it. In a way, it harkens to the origins of the monster: monstrum. In Latin it mean "omen," and the Jigsaw man is an omen. Created by a sadistic doctor, the monster of the Jigsaw Man is an omen of two things. The first being the perversion and deification that the medical profession bump up against. There are stories that run through out time of insane and sadistic practices by those who said they did in in the pursuit of knowledge and the betterment of mankind. This story is no different. There is a strange allure to finding out the unknown, especially when it comes to extending out mortality or fixing conditions that are deemed irreparable. But it that ethical choice of knowledge or humanity that is something that we can all struggle with, just as Mary Shelley noted in Frankenstein.
        The second, though, is what such a creation would be like. In Frankenstein, Shelly delves into the mind of Frankenstein's creation, but never from his PoV. It is is that way that Rollo pushes the envelope of the monster tale by making the main character, a normal man at the start (albeit having lost everything in his life, but still a man) into the monster and what that process does to the human mind and spirit. For that reason, this is a book that all aspiring horror writers should be made to read and established ones will hopefully pick up before the pen the next monster story so that they can keep pushing that boundaries.