The Expansion Project

by Ben Pester

Plans for the expansion of the Capmeadow Business Park are in full swing - its mission is to become the greatest business park in the region. Tom Crowley, a mid-level employee, loses his daughter at 'bring your daughter to work day'. He raises the alarm, and his colleagues rush to help him find her. Eventually, after no sign of her is found, it transpires she was never there. And yet, as time goes on, Tom still cannot reconcile that she is really at home. Refusing to accept that she is safe, Tom continues to search for her in the maze of corridors and impossible multi-dimensional spaces that make up his place of work...

Because Capmeadow is expanding in unexpected ways, a Liaison Officer becomes the central focus for complaints about how the expansion is impacting the lives of the employees - unexpected buildings, years-long business days, cursed farmers' markets, and corridors of the mind are draining the life from Tom and everyone he works with.

Years pass, and Tom remains at the company, convinced he is in the presence of his now adult daughter. But has he judged it correctly? And can anything go back to the way it was??

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[David Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I cast David Tennant into the lead role, but it seemed to fit so I just went with it. I also read it while in bed with a nasty cold and I think the narrative messed with my head more than the germs did. There's a lot to unpack here. Comparisons to Severance and Backrooms are both fair. This is definitely a story for the Teams Call WFH generation, blurring the lines between home life and work life until you're really not sure which is which... It doesn't take much of a surreal twist to push the modern-day nightmare of taking Design Team calls while parenting towards something altogether darker.
As the story goes on, the threads become more abstract until you're not quite sure of the ground beneath your fingertips. In this case, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. But it's a thing.
This book just sort of turned up on my Kindle library. I must have bought it on an impulse, but I've got no recollection of why, how or when. I find that rather fitting.
If you like this, try House of Leaves. or Several People Are Typing.

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t tell you what happened in this book even if I wanted to. Dense and illogical. Did anything even happen?

[Rebecca Goulbourne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trippy as hell, I genuinely felt like it was sending me into corporate-induced psychosis. I loved it. Its severance meets capitalist horror. Totally bizarre.

[Andy Haddon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing and unsettling exploration of the nightmarish corporate culture mission creep.
For everyone who takes work home with them even when they try their damnedest to escape it.

I was reminded of Black Mirror, Severance, Nathan Barley, The Shining, Kay Dick's They, and every single soul sucking corporate job that exists only to enrich people with faces you'll never see.