Toploader

by Ed O'Loughlin

In a novel compared by some reviewers to Catch-22 for its mix of humor and outrage, this brilliant send-up of modern military adventurism is an insightful and darkly comic anti-war masterpiece. Its setting is the Embargoed Zone (or "Easy"), headquarters to the coalition of western allies, somewhere in the Middle East.

Spying inside the Easy is expensive and hazardous, and the "terrorist" double agent known as Cobra needs his wages paid in cash in order to survive. But his down-at-heels spymaster from the occupying forces, one Captain Smith, is broke and forced to pay his agent in kind--with a top-loading washing machine pilfered from the American compound. When it turns out that this piece of clothes-washing technology is in fact a critical piece of military hardware essential to the allied war effort, a frantic scramble to retrieve the device is unleashed.
Packed with unforgettable characters--including a resourceful teenage girl from the occupied territory, an intrepid local reporter navigating the Easy in search of the truth, an egotistical western blogger with delusions of relevance, a hapless drone pilot with an itchy trigger finger, and at least one very unfortunate donkey--Toploader is a savage and hilarious indictment of remote-control warfare and imperialism by proxy.

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply tragic metaphor for the Isreal/Palestine conflict, but somehow it is also incredibly funny. Black anti-war comedy that remedied me of the film Dr. Strangelove.

[John Mannion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grim and darkly humorous story about people on the wrong side of state propaganda.

[Derek Wamboldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first once I found out what the book was going to be about I found myself rather disheartened. But for some reason I kept reading it. The book starts off establishing characters that either like or dislike but by the end of the book you find your loyalties switched. I actually enjoyed the book quite thoroughly even though I'm not much into war based books. A few of the characters don't really develop but you don't really find yourself caring that much about them. The book makes mention of many things you don't really find all that important or interesting but end up actually playing quite a large role when you least expect it. The ending wasn't quite what I had hoped for but it was still a good fit for the story. If I had never won this book in a giveaway I would never have found out how much I actually enjoyed it.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book from the Goodreads giveaways.

I entered the drawing for this book because the description called it a "darkly comic novel" but after reading it, I think it missed the mark on that. It just wasn't really all that funny, dark or otherwise with the exception of the epilogue. I was however looking forward to more than just the ending being that way.

It does have some madcap to it with everyone thinking they know what is going on but noone actually knowing but it doesn't really show up until so late in the book that it makes for a slow read.

It was an ok book and I think there are readers out there that will like it, but it just wasn't for me.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels very immature and shallow and not particularly funny. Did not finish it because I just did not find it engaging, and realised that it would not have anything meaningful to say after a few chapters of callous / numb characters going about their everyday lives while atrocities happen around them. I don't know if I'm doing it an injustice (the movie Three Kings starts out similarly callously), but nothing about the book made me believe there would ever be any depth or real humanity in it.

[Kevin Mccarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

part catch 22, part slaughterhouse 5, part escape from new york, toploader is a dark, near-future dystopian rendering of a palestine that has been converted into a terrorist Zone similar to the Liberties of old. O'Loughlin was a journalist in the middle east for years and this shows. dark, funny, brutally violent and strangely hopeful read.

[Ameya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well the plot is sinister, yet comical at certain parts. The only complaint I have is the book ends rather abruptly. It is true to it's name, a darkly comic take, on the much talked about Embargo zone. For any one who enjoys reading books on war, a must read. A delightfully clinical outlook on certain aspects of the war.

[David Kenvyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manic rollercoaster of a ride through a war zone, complete with maniacs, spies, journalists, civilians trying to survive, soldiers trying to line their own pockets, bewildered soldiers trying not to get killed and an exploding donkey. Think Sarajevo, or Mali, or Libya, or Syria, or Afghanistan or anywhere else that has recently been invaded and/or bombed to oblivion.

[Kassondra · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like stories about war, then you will love this one. It's filled with interested characters that will surprise you. This book has a great storyline that will keep you reading on. I couldn't put this book down when I started to read it. I recommend this book to everyone.

[John Mulholland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great! Satire about the current war.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads 'First Reads' giveaway.


I didn't like it as much as I thought I would!

[Eldon.shirkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. Recommended. Would not have taken much tweaking to work this up to a suberb five-star read. Looking forward intensely to this writers next book.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny and a pretty original plot setting.