A Little Leg Work

by Royce Leville

When you order a meal in a restaurant, how can you be sure you get what you asked for? Isn't that meat a little pale to be beef? And what tastes like chicken doesn't mean it's actually chicken. The thing is, most diners are completely oblivious as to what goes on in a restaurant's kitchen. They order, eat and pay, with no clue as to where the food has come from. Take the Alfresco Paradiso in A Little Leg Work. When this renowned Italian restaurant turns to a new food source, with surprising and sickening results, it means a plate of meatballs will never be the same again. And while no one knows what the Alfresco's chefs are up to, the public loves it and gobbles it up. A local detective (and weekend gourmet chef) tries to find out just what it is that makes the meatballs so good, while his brother-in-law, a journalist, smells a page one story. Meanwhile, the Alfresco owner becomes a celebrity and all those involved in the restaurant start rolling in the cash, including a butcher, an adventurer and a morgue manager. They all get to tell their own story and have their say because the book is told from numerous points of view. Royce Leville's debut novel pushes the boundaries of taste and the limits of traditional narrative style. Replete with footnotes, multiple narrators, gristly scenes and thousands of satisfied eaters, A Little Leg Work will disgust, intrigue, amuse and offend, and leave you salivating for more. 'A Little Leg Work' won the fiction category and finished runner-up in the grand prize at the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

270 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Royce Leville is the author of 'The Book of Names.' One story from the collection, 'Mikelis,' was made into a short film starring James Cosmo. The book won the Australia/New Zealand category in the 2015 IPPYs. His debut novel, 'A Little Leg Work,' won the fiction category and finished runner-up in the grand prize at the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Reviews

[Moryah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. I am so glad that I did.

Anyone interested in stories with an interesting premise and good character development will enjoy this book. This book was not what I had expected. I went into thinking it was going to be more of a book that was trying to go for shock value and focus in on stomach turning disgusting details, which I do enjoy in my fiction. However, for me this book was far more about family dynamics and human behavior than it was about cannibalism. The interactions between the key players can be seen on some level in almost any family. Relationships revolve around jealousy, greed, love, and family obligation. It is a book that will have you questioning the base of your own motives and morals.

[Rob Slaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

As is very often always the case, I received this book free in exchange for a review. Despite the kindness of receiving a free book I'm absolutely candid about the book because I want everyone to know what they're getting as much as I hope to when I'm shopping.

The plot summary on this one is delicious! Essentially it's a Sweeney Todd or Delicatessen but in the modern day. What do you do when a big restaurant critic has come for a meal and you're out of meat? Well you improvise of course!

To the positive, this book is delightfully entertaining, assuming your stomach isn't turned. The descriptions of the "meals" aren't terribly graphic but if the idea is enough to make you turn a bit green then you might want to give this a miss because there are a LOT of meals. Also, the characterizations in this book are sharp and diverse and give the novel a lot of color and panache. Lastly, the book has an unusual feature for a work of fiction, over 200 footnotes. These are not, strictly speaking, required reading but they add a lot of back story to the novel and they're often quite dryly hilarious.

To the negative, the plot is a bit wobbly at times in that the characters get away with a lot for a long time that wouldn't really have worked out. It fails slightly in realism but that's all very easily ignored. Also the book suffers from some rather mysterious textual errors confusing your/you're and there/their. This is unusual because the rest of the production is so crisp. Still it's only a minor distraction.

In summary, if you like a dark tale and don't mind a lot of cannibalism, then I can't recommend this one highly enough. You won't be able to resist eating it up; assuming it doesn't eat you first.

[Sally Balboa · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me the first twenty pages or so of this book were boring. However as I dug further and further into this book I found myself intensely involved with the characters. I even found some real hatred towards a character I won't name but he is hypocritical hippy. I was actually surprised by the ending of this novel too, because its the first thing you'd expect to happen but you shrug it of thinking no one would seriously do that, well let me just say I'm glad they did that.

The story is centered around one crappy restaurant with impeccable food. How is the food made, from what nearly costless place could the meat from their divine meatballs come from? Soylent Green anyone? Now watch as this little family owned and operated restraint becomes wildly popular for their cuisine. In this story see how easily people can be corrupted with money, sex, or just an insatiable appetite. Also through this novel you can see how sibling rivalries can effect our adult relationships, brothers through thick and thin right? Wrong.

I'd recommend this book to anyone with a strong stomach and a curious appetite.

[Mandy Dejonghe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, but I rounded up, for reasons I'll explain later.

I received this from a Goodreads giveaway, and it came in awesome wrapping paper. Thank you so much for this :) However, this has not influenced my review of the novel. Also I'm very glad I won because I do not know if I would have picked up this book had I not.
This book has a pretty crazy premise, it revolves around a restaurant that runs out of beef one night, and decides to substitute it with human meat, specifically from a dead mans leg. Needless to say, this leads to a very intriguing story to follow.
While this book touches upon many themes, one of the most central is the idea of family and the different dynamics that shape the family in the center of this novel. It touches upon what we are willing to do for family, and what family means.
Another theme is the general idea of moral and the sometimes not so clear line between right and wrong. This book kept me constantly questioning what separates humans so much for animals and why we so quickly judge cannibalistic societies. It brought up meaningful and interesting thoughts all throughout the novel which I think it extremely important and what made me round up. There were things mentioned in this book that will linger in my mind for quite some time.
The plot could lull at times and overall it was one of those novels that was easy and interesting to read but did not keep me consistently hooked to the point where I could not put it down. This being said, I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend to most anyone as it brings about some interesting questions and is quite different from most everything I've picked up.

[Melissa Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Member Giveaway from LibraryThing. It came in the mail right after Christmas and it was wrapped in Christmas paper, which was a simple and kind gesture that made my day.

Since I am not opposed to cannibalism, I found this book to be more humorous than horrifying (as others might cringe). I may have even gotten a little hungry here and there if I actually liked meatballs. ;)

But really, the book was written in a very unique and creative manner. Royce Leville had everyone's perspective going around in the book and I loved hearing the very real-like and entertaining variety of everyone's point of view. In that, I was impressed at how there were so many perspectives without being confusing. I knew exactly who was expressing when they were expressing.

The story makes you think about what you could be eating when you go out to restaurants. It opens your eyes to the way people can sometimes just stumble upon something that causes them to commit an act they generally wouldn't commit. At the end of this book, you could say that what goes around comes around and it tied up nicely. I really enjoyed reading this.

I also want to add this link that a friend happened to share with me right as I was finishing the book up. It's interesting that this article is very similar to this book:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nigeria-rest...

[Mallori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received as a Goodreads giveaway. I struggled at first with the authors voice. (1) After acquiring a taste for his writing style I zoomed through this book. Dark and humorous, although not the most original plot, I really enjoyed the journey this book took me on. An enjoyable read.

(1) Too many footnotes.

[Majajeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I... Well.. I think it was interesting.
Sometimes I was a bit confused who was telling the story now, but most of the time I got it sorted out quite quickly.
I really liked the overall idea. The characters were interesting, although a bit too many for a "short" story like that (for my taste). But there is a list with names, that helped.

I really liked the style! The comments at the bottom of the page added some humour and I found myself looking forward to them :)
It is a short read, but I think enough to tell the story. It has a good pace too. And it had quite the satisfying ending, telling us how each character lived through this... Scandal

Maybe it is time for me to go vegan too... And skip a few restaurant visits in the future (⁠●⁠´⁠⌓⁠`⁠●⁠)

[Kate McDougall Sackler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not love this book about a family owned and operated restaurant serving suspiciously delicious (?) meatballs. Definitely written by a man who doesn’t like women or fat people. I feel like I need a shower. Told from multiple viewpoints, but not always enough difference in the viewpoints made them difficult to distinguish. Also annoying was the copious amount of footnotes.
2026 reading challenge-a book by a new-to-you author

[Mike Siedschlag · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a print copy of A Little Leg Work by Royce Leville in a Goodreads Giveaway.

I have to first give credit to author Royce Leville for having the ability to take a topic (cannibalism) that most people (myself included) find abhorrent and turning it into a humorous story. A Little Leg Work is a very funny story.

Although there is no indication noted in the book, it is pretty clear to me that Royce Leville is British. We find many words with the British spelling, but then again, the publisher is identified as being in Hamburg, Germany, so who can say for sure. I only mention this at all because a character in the book drives a Mercedes and the author shortens this to "Merc". Which, any American car guy knows means Mercury (both fine cars, but hardly interchangeable). This is the only language difference that is seriously noticeable.

Leville keeps the story light by not focusing too much on how the "humce" (read the book) is acquired, but on the goings on of all the characters, and how easily they slid down that slippery slope into gruesome activities.

A Little Leg Work is not graphic, even the sex. In fact, for me, one of the funniest parts of the book is how a fetus (foetus, as the author spells it) experiences sexual activity by its host.

Author Leville uses footnotes to provide snide asides about various characters and situations. I found this a very funny way of keeping the story light.

For a short time I actually worried about what it says about me that I could find such a topic funny (but I did, call me a ghoul if you want, but it was funny). I got over it, but it may be that I won't go out for Italian for a while.

The other thing that struck me was the presence of a "Travel Page" at the front and again at the back of the book. It is a place to document the travels of the book through different readers. Kind of a neat idea until two pages later when we find the admonishment "that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated..." (??).

The real lesson to be taken away from A Little Leg Work by Royce Leville is: Never trust a vegetarian! Enjoy!


Mike

[ThatGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book from Goodreads Giveaway in return for my honest review. So here it goes...

Boy oh boy, well this book is um....different. A good different though just not what I expected. The witty and humorous tone really worked for me although the premise is disturbing. I really loved the character development on this one and how the author showed each character's depth. Surprisingly, this book talks about more than just cannibalism. The book delves into family feuds, greed, and jealousy which will get you questioning your own morals. Although the book started slow, I think it was written well. Ony downside is that there are too many footnotes. More than what I felt was required. I felt like it was added there just coz. But I'm really happy I got to read this book :>

[David Ketelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from GoodReads.

I enjoyed reading this book. Leville starts out slow, laying the groundwork for how the members of the extended family that run the restaurant interact with one another. There's a lot of dynamics here and Leville delves into family history and psychology to explain their relationships. And then the proverbial shit hits the fan and the book shifts into high gear. It's quite a ride. I wasn't enthusiastic about the ending but there certainly was a sense of karma there.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept was good and in most parts I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. It did start off slowly but it is worth continuing. Also it did take a few chapters to get used to how the story is described through various characters. The constant footnotes were distracting and although some were very humourous, I gave up reading them fairly quickly - they broke up the story too much. My only other comment is why the policemen never contacted Environmental Health!?! A much easier way to investigate!

I received this book as a Member Giveaway from LibraryThing.com

[Pam Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully deceptive. I enjoyed this book very much - it is clever, funny, and full of surprises. I love how each character tells their own story and as it all comes together you could know how they came to this place of creating a nightmare they could not escape. This is one time I am so glad that I did not read ahead. The ending was dynamite. A good read.

[Ar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I may be the only one who paid for the book. I did not like it.

[Tammie Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously deranged, but a good read

[Bevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has sat on my shelf for around five years, gotten free some place I can't remember, so figured I might as well read it.
It was a struggle at first with the way it was written. Each chapter is written from a different perspective, sometimes first person and sometimes third. For the most part you knew who's chapter you were reading, but there were many cases you didn't know until a bit in, causing a bit of confusion with keeping things straight. That also made things difficult when new characters were introduced. On the back of my book was a list of characters instead of a synopsis of the novel, and I often looked to it to keep people straight if it took me a bit to remember who they were. It's not that there were a lot of characters, it was just the style. There were also some chapters that just seemed completely random with no link to the actual story going on.
Once I got used to that though, I was able to enjoy the story better. It's different, the changing points of view made it more engaging because you were able to see how everything played out for all the people involved. The ending was satisfying and also tied the seemingly random chapters back into the story.
This tiny little indie book is one I'm glad didn't disappoint.

[Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun book, in a dark way. Easily read as a play, and an adaption for the stage could be quite interesting. I liked how Leville balanced a host of characters, although this left many feeling thin, including more important characters. That being said, I struggled to put this down, and was constantly looking for moments throughout the day to come back to the text. I also had a lot of fun with the chorus reading along with me.
I also found quite a few technical errors throughout the book, which was motivating—A story doesn't need to be technically perfect if it's interesting. Just write better, and the rest will come.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this was not my kind of story, the writing held my interest. If you're looking for a more unusual type of mystery, this is it.

[Xuan Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen Lads,

It’s Italian Ratatouille but the instead of a rat, it’s a leg. They eat the leg. Leg was c o n s u m e d.

Pretty good and funny - 4/5