Scarecrow Has a Gun

by Michael Paul Kozlowsky

Never trust other people's memories, and watch out for your own

Sean Whittlesea was there when his wife was murdered. He saw the light leave her eyes. He held her dead body in his arms. He knows he wept, but he cannot recollect a single other detail. Tormented by the tragedy, Sean relives the horror over and over again. As he struggles to recall what really happened, his imagination serves up an endless chain of scenarios. The truth, however, remains hidden in the vault of his memory, and the key is nowhere to be found. Nearly two decades later, Sean, now remarried and a father of two, wins a bizarre contest hosted by his eccentric boss. The prize is the Memory Palace, a state-of-the-art black box that purportedly allows its possessor to relive every moment he has ever experienced, playing out all the memories on a screen. While the small machine at first appears to be the answer to the mystery surrounding the death of his wife, it instead upends Sean's life. He pushes his family further and further away as the Memory Palace forces him to confront harsh realities and difficult questions that he lacks the strength to face or answer. Spiraling downward, Sean encounters increasingly harrowing challenges that force him to realize that his memory is not the only thing at stake. To recover the truth about his past, Sean must fight for his very life.

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

Audiobook

First published August 2, 2022

About the author

Born in Bronx, New York, Michael Paul Kozlowsky is a former high school English/Film teacher and, writing as M.P. Kozlowsky, is the author of four children’s books — FROST, JUNIPER BERRY, ROSE COFFIN, and THE DYERVILLE TALES. He lives in New York with his wife, two daughters and a rescue beagle named Huxley, and when he’s not reading or playing chess, he continues to write everything from poetry to screenplays to short stories, journalism, philosophy, and books for readers of all ages.

Reviews

[Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded down
I wanted to like this book so much. The premise is great and there are so many insightful and intriguing thoughts about memory. However, for me, it just didn't get there in a clear enough way to make the book relatable or exciting enough.

Sean's wife was murdered many years before, but he received a head injury at the same time so he has been unable to remember what happened to her and it haunts him. Through his job, he's offered a strange but unique opportunity to possess "The Memory Palace" and view his memories on a television screen, and he is hoping to see what happened to his wife. Yet the more he watches his memories (which appear at random) the more he comes to realize that either they've been tampered with, or that his memory is fallible and he isn't remembering things correctly.

If the book was a bit more straightforward and if Sean was more likable, I would have connected with the experience. But as it is, Sean gets so immersed in the memories that he neglects his actual life, and this seemed to be the case before he even got the Memory Palace. The ending does clear everything up and has decent closure, but I didn't have buy in to the explanation at all and it felt rushed and contrived. There are quite a few things brought up in the course of the book that are never fully explored (like what was up with the boss and his altered appearance?) yet we are treated to endless examination of the nature of memory in different people and how we can cause altered memories in others, etc.

I have see other reviews saying that this would have been much better as a short story and I definitely agree. I can see this as a Twilight Zone-esque story, but only if the extra randomness is left out.

If you like sci-fi with some mystery and can stand slogging through a lot of filler, then you might join the others who have enjoyed it.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

I listened to this book partially as an audiobook, and the narrator was good and kept me invested in the story.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update 8/9/22: Reposting my review to celebrate that today is publication day!

Life could not be accurately reproduced. Not in photographs, not on video, not in memory. Real life came around once, and we had to catch it while it was taking place; otherwise, it was distorted. We were distorted. The only truth was in the box.

Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for sending me an ARC Audiobook of Scarecrow Has a Gun in exchange for an honest review.

The plot of Scarecrow Has a Gun is very straightforward. Sean Whittlesea is a widower whose wife was murdered so brutally that he has never been able to remember the details or help the police find the killer. Many years later, he’s remarried and has a family, but he is still haunted by the event. One day, Sean’s boss Mr. Ulger gives Sean a box he calls a Memory Palace, a futuristic device that shows can show a person all of their memories fully intact to the last detail. But the box shows seemingly random memories, not the ones Sean wants to watch, and some of the memories shown are not how Sean remembers them happening, leaving Sean asking some deep questions about who he really is.

There were elements of Scarecrow Has a Gun that I quite liked. Sean’s boss Mr. Ulger, and his Widowers Club, were appropriately mysterious and unsettling. I’m always here for some good Mandela Effect/false memory conversations. Why does no one remember that there’s a brief scene in The Wizard of Oz where the Scarecrow holds a revolver? Is it just because it’s so illogical that people blocked it out? I mean, that movie scared me so much when I was young that I still refuse to watch it, but what’s everyone else’s excuse for forgetting? Best of all, the discussions about the malleability of memory were interesting and sometimes creepy. People do often choose which moments to focus on, and thus which stick in our memories and which are lost. We choose which moments to change our behavior based upon and which to ignore. And we even subtly shape our memories over time, minimizing some parts (often when we are the villain) and exaggerating others (often when we are either the hero or the victim), all to the effect of building our own narrative of who we think we are.

That said, Scarecrow Has a Gun has some flaws. The middle portion is a bit repetitive as Sean watches many memories without really moving the story forward. More critically, having one piece of future tech in an otherwise set-in-the-present novel makes for an interesting what-if story or way to view our current world. Having more than one makes it much harder for the reader to suspend their disbelief. Worse, these other pieces of future tech are not revealed until late in the novel and yet are vital to the plot’s resolution.

Finally, a word about the narrator, David Doersch, who I thought did a very good job. There’s a darkness—a noir element—to Scarecrow Has a Gun, and his voice really captured it. I especially enjoyed his portrayal of the mysterious Mr. Ulger, and his hideous cackling laugh for Josie may have hurt my brain, but it was perfect for the way she’s written.

At its core, Scarecrow Has a Gun is really just a mash-up of two other stories (one of which is actually referenced in the novel when it takes that turn) that I can’t name without spoiling the story. And the concepts and ideas discussed along the way were probably a bit more memorable (pun intended) than the actual plot. Still, I enjoyed the ride. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[Dona's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I think about Michael Paul Kozlowsky's SCARECROW HAS A GUN, a few days after finishing it, I feel a little perplexed and puzzled. Curious. Not pleased, but also not unsatisfied. I think it's important that after reflecting all this time, I'm still processing complex emotions in response to the story, the characters, and the ending. That means Kozlowsky did his job as a writer: he really entertained me.

SCARECROW is one of those stories where the only characters I really liked were the kids and the dead woman. That's okay because Kozlowsky pours the stink on thick for everyone, and he also gives lead characters (including the villains) a recognizable repugnance, so I was still able to connect to them.

Also, the concept is pretty interesting--it deals with the mutability of memory, and also the ethics of changing our memory and how that can affect those around us. This is a slippery topic though, as anything dealing with time can be, so expect the requisite plot issues.

One of those issues, in the case of SCARECROW, is that sometimes the narrator (I mean Kozlowski here, of course) goes on for way too long about the concept theory, instead of putting it into action for the reader. Thankfully, this doesn't happen often. All said, this was a great read that I grabbed on a whim because I had just finished L. Frank Baum's THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ and the reference snagged me. So glad for that happenstance!

Rating 4 stars
Finished September 2022
Recommended for fans of thrillers with a Sci-Fi twist, time thrillers, psychological thrillers, medical thrillers, stories about time and sanity, mental health thrillers
TW extreme emotional DV, violence against children, burns, gaslighting, guns and shootings, suicide
TW there was a scene of such extreme emotional abuse against a female character, I couldn't finish the scene. Tread carefully here, friends.

Thank you NetGalley, Michael Kozlowsky, and Imbrifex Books.

*Follow my Instagram book blog for all my reviews, challenges, and book lists! http://www.instagram.com/donasbooks *

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to Imbrifex books, Michael Paul Kozlowsky, and Netgalley.
I've no review for this book. I suggest going in blind.
I mostly enjoyed it. The middle was a bit draggy, but wowsers, that finish!
I did have to Google the Scarecrow with a gun part!

[Book Clubbed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shouts out to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a strange, fun ride, one in which the promise of the premise was always going to be hard to live up to. I appreciate any book that embraces its own ambitions, however, and the early chapters had a hook as strong as Mike Tyson. I'm also predisposed to enjoy a book like this, I must admit, due to my interest in our fallible memory and quicksilver relation to our own experiences. I like the angle the author took, in that the scariest possible memory is the one that is completely objective, its sharp corners not yet buffed by our justifications or rearrangements. While others might find those sections too info-dumpy, I rather enjoyed them, along with our narrator's exploration of his own family dynamic through memory.

This book really relies on two aspects: the memory palace, and the mystery of who had previously killed his wife. Unfortunately, the mystery plotline fades in the background, until the author tries to resurrect it in the last few chapters. This led to a lack of tension in the novel, which he tried to compensate for with a poor bickering wife who gets saddled with plenty of cliché characterizations, even as we come to learn her background and sympathize with her. Ultimately, I wasn't swayed towards emotionally investing into his present-day family, which limited my enjoyment of the middle section of the book.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previously published using a pseudonym, Michael Paul Kozlowsky’s latest book is Scarecrow Has a Gun. It begins somewhat peculiarly with a company CEO inviting his widowed workers to his office to partake in a contest to suicide. Eventually, Sean wins a different contest and his prize is a black box called the Memory Palace that enables a person’s memories to be seen on a television screen. As he becomes addicted to processing his lost recollections of how his wife’s murder unfolded, Sean becomes increasingly estranged from his family. He becomes so enraptured in his new world of the past that it endangers his own life. An enjoyable concept for a tale that could have been so much more, somewhat disappointing and so a three star read rating. With thanks to Imbrifex Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, I absolutely loved this book. Although as a general rule, sci-fi is out of my wheel house, Scarecrow Has a Gun is so well-written that it seemed a natural process to suspend any disbelieve. Author Michael Paul Kozlowsky takes a completely impossible premise, brings it to life as plausible and forces the reader to reassess everything they thought of as tangible and real.

The star of this show is main character Sean Whittlesea, a widower who lost his wife in a violent encounter when his son was still a toddler. Almost twenty years later, we find Sean with a second child and a new love. Although his mind refuses to unlock the details surrounding that fateful day his wife was murdered, he has managed to rebuild his life. It is on the job, however, that Sean is challenged to reassess his reality, as the author forces Sean and the reader to reconsider the accuracy and accountability of “memory”. An involuntary member of the “Widowers’ Club”, Sean is, on a regular basis, forced to participate in sadistic “competitions” from which only one member emerges victorious. While the losers trudge back to their everyday existence, the winner rises through the company ranks, bestowed with new life, new wealth and the ability to fulfill his wildest dreams. When Sean finally finds himself on the winning end of one of these mind-bending challenges, he is presented with a gift—a box that allows him to see, in real time, every moment of his life. What is at first seen as the answer to Sean’s relentless pursuit of the truth regarding his wife’s death quickly morphs into an existential crisis. How much of what we remember is based on reality and how much do we spackle over it, patching the holes with material that we mold to suit our needs?

Kozlowsky creates in Sean Whittlesea an “Everyman” of sorts. Although not all of us experience such profound tragedy, most of us have moments in our lives to which we wish we could return—to see those events again unfold with the benefit of hindsight. Just how accurate are those memories we retain? How much of the minutiae is simply “filled in” by details we remember not in reality but as a result of a need to soften the moment and make us appear more human—more compassionate—more altruistic? These are the questions with which Sean struggles, and in doing so, instills an element of unease in each of us as we examine the entire process of simply “remembering”. It is in author Kozlowsky’s ability to make us turn inward while accompanying Sean on his own journey that the absolute brilliance of this book is grounded.

Incredible character development, a unique and clever plot, and twists the reader won’t see coming make this an early contender for the Best of 2022. Five big gold stars and a thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for the ARC. The expected publication for this book is August of 2022.

[Christopher Orr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Worthwhile Read about the Lies We Tell... Even to Ourselves

Disclosure: I received a ARC of this book in exchange for my thoughts and review.

TL;DR: If you like a good mystery with a steady build and don't need a lot of "crunch" in your sci-fi, this is worth diving into.

Pros:
* Heavy on the mystery...
* Interesting narrative system
* Steady build to a satisfying end

Cons:
* ... but light on the sci-fi
* Some secondary characters are very dislikable
* Sentence structure slows the pace of reading

Scarecrow Has a Gun is an interesting story. It examines the idea of memory and forgetting in a way that many sci-fi fans will appreciate. Whereas Philip K. Dick asked 'what would happen if we could provide you with new memories' in We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, Michael Paul Kozlowsky asks 'what would happen if we could provide you with all your old memories.' The uncomfortable truth that this story examines is that eyewitness accounts of events are highly unreliable - even the ones that exist solely in our own heads.

There is a great mystery at the heart of the story. You are dropped in, not quite in media res, but with the same questions and blanks as the narrator about his past and the truth of the Widower's Club. It is a very fun way to have both the reader and character try to uncover more about the plot. When I got to the end I was very happy with the way the book resolved the plot without feeling the need to put a bow on every little mystery and question. Interesting questions are far easier than satisfying answers, and Michael Paul Kozlowsky has the confidence in his primary plot to not gild the lily with forced resolutions of minor questions.

The style of the prose is both a major boon for the story and a serious limitation. The first-person narration helps to really drive the emotion of the story as you both learn and theorize. The entire book reads as a cleaned-up version of stream of consciousness. As the reader, you can truly feel as if you are in the mind of the character. The downside is that the sentence structure that permits this uses an absurd amount of commas and em dashes. It works wonderfully to sound like you are listening to someone's nascent thoughts, but it means that a large amount of the sentences and paragraphs need to be re-read in order to fully digest the idea presented. I found that it was a bit uncomfortable for the about the first chapter or so, then I settled in and accepted it as part of the conceit of the book without it getting in the way too much.

While the book is technically sci-fi, it feels as if the story never needs it to be. There is no hard examination of the math, physics, or engineering behind the items that help drive the plot. It is all what I refer to as "tomorrow tech" - things that are extrapolations of what we have now and would not feel too terribly out of place in a suspense book with the CIA as a major player. Really, this book could be written as an urban fantasy novel with the tech replaced by magic and it wouldn't change anything about the core story. So while it is a fun read, don't expect any "crunch" out of this.

Overall, this is a very good book that I highly enjoyed reading. As a first foray into non-YA fiction, Michael Paul Kozlowsky has made a very impressive showing. I personally will be watching for his next book to read!

[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Imbrifex Audio For the opportunity to listen to this audiobook arc.

Sean Whittlesea was there when his wife was murdered. He saw the light leave her eyes. He held her dead body in his arms.He knows he wept, but he cannot recollect a single other detail. Tormented by the tragedy, Sean relives the horror over and over again. As he struggles to recall what really happened, his imagination serves up an endless chain of scenarios. The truth, however, remains hidden in the vault of his memory, and the key is nowhere to be found.

The narration was really good, it captured my attention and the voices was really good.

You are taken on a journey with Sean as he watches his memories using the black box device. I got serious Stephen King vibes around the idea of this book. I loved how he tried to help Nick through his grief showing him memories of his mom and how Nick showed courage in standing up for the right thing.

A very enjoyable book that will show you to cherish you memories and those around you.

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have the sudden urge to spend a couple of days hashing out the philosophical questions surrounding your memory, how it's perceived by you versus other people, and how a not quite accurate memory can affect you, you're in luck: there's tons of that in this book. If you prefer to have those questions asked, but not in a drill to the center of the earth way, and to read a science fiction novel (as this is also categorized) wrapped around this, you may be slightly disappointed. I was.

First, the length. This book would have worked much better as a novella, in my opinion. There are pages in the book that could have easily been jettisoned, as they were a bit echo-ey of things already discussed, and it caused a drag in multiple places.

Second, the premise: our protagonist Sean works as a drone in a large, nameless company doing some kind of video/graphic production. Is this important? It could have been, if there was some exploration of how Sean, with a graphic-centered life at work, may have been able to remember things more accurately than someone without that focus. This was not explore, however.

The precise: There is a group of employees of this company called The Widowers Club, summoned once a year to the boss' office. All members of the group, as the name describes, are men. I'm not sure why Mr. Ulger, the boss, only selected men for his little games, where he would tell the group to perform some inane stunt - running through a glass window, for instance.

One year, Sean, who has been summoned for several years but who has never "won", actually does win. His prize is a box contraption with two lines that attach to the temples. This box then shows the memories of the person hooked to it. Sean has been trying his hardest to remember an attack that leaves his wife dead and Sean unable to recall the exact events surrounding the attack. Now is his chance, but he finds what he remembers doesn't jibe exactly with what the machine is telling him. My question: why does he simply assume that Ulger is telling him the truth and the machine is more accurate than what he himself remembers?

The rest of the book proceeds with Sean trying to get to the bottom of the attack, discovering along the way that nearly all his memories have that same unsettling wrongness about them. We also meet his fiancee Hayley is entirely unlikable, and his son not much better. There's also a female crossing guard with some serious issues. I get that she's meant as a sort of humor device, given the inappropriate things she says and the gossip she dishes, but she comes across as annoying and doesn't serve as much of a break from the overall rather dense story.

Eventually Sean makes it to the truth of his wife's death, and there's an ending that seems rather far-fetched, given Ulger's penchant for knowing absolutely everything Sean is doing.

There's a real lack of the science fiction component, as it isn't clear just how the box works, or really anything about it, other than it's the type of science fiction that exists just because. That is, it's like warp speed in virtually any science fiction: it is simply something that exists in this universe, and doesn't require many pages of explanation. I would have liked something, though, even just a little. A good example of how something exists in a universe without going on for many chapters about it is the Epstein drive in The Expanse books.

The philosophical question is interesting, but in this particular book it really brought things to a halt when I hit some of the denser pages of that discussion. I'd have liked to have seen some discussion of how Ulger saw this as a way to make whoever used the machine wealthy beyond belief - this wasn't really explained, since the machine only looks backwards, not forward (so one might invest in an invention or company one might remember reading news about, only to find with a forward-looking machine that said invention or company was a bonafide winner, and one might invest in the thing/company in their current moment in the timeline, for instance). It's easier to believe Ulger when he talks about mind control, as the machine could be programmed to serve up the memories Ulger wanted someone to believe about their past memories.

Overall, I'm rather neutral about the book, so it's three stars out of five from me.

Thanks to Imbifrex Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.

Expected publication date: August 2022.

[Manja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memory is a peculiar thing.

I, for one, have wondered multiple times how true and trustworthy our memories are. When I was younger, I kept having reocurring dreams, that came true in one form or another years later. I've also had various different and really weird or unexplainable déjà-vu's in my life too, which at the time freaked me out a lot.

This novel explores that very concept:
"Are we the lives that we live, or are we our memories?"

Maybe it was because I could relate to the protagonist's experiences and views on the ideas of what memory is, or maybe because of the ideas the author tried to convey, but I really liked this. The mystery was intriguing, and the writing style flowed really well. It didn't feel like a debut or drafted work at all.

This story kept me hooked, from beginning to end. And it made me think, about lots of things, but mainly about my sense of nostalgia when thinking about silly things from my past, and also my occasional existential dread.

The only thing that I would say was lacking, was the ending. It left me feeling a bit unsatisfied, and I think it all happened too fast and too easily, if that makes sense?
On the other hand, I can see why the author chose to end it this way, especially after reading the Author page. It feels more like a journey of acceptance for our main protagonist, rather than a thriller-mystery of who the bad guy is (Like what I expected at the beginning of the book)

I would say this is definitely worth to check out when it comes out in August 2022!

PS If you want to know what the title refers to, it's quite an interesting subject that has many theories around it. I suggest you read the book to find out ;)

Huge thanks to Imbrifex Books and Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for a honest review!

[Louise Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a total mind-f**k. It was brilliant, grabbed me from the first, and held me as I went on this helter skelter decent into the poor characters life. The ending was totally unexpected, and I found myself coming away totally satisfied (a rare thing at an end of a book.) It is a must read!

[Kirsten Mattingly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting to read a straight up sci-fi thriller, and it was a welcome surprise that this book is so much more! I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to ponder philosophical questions about the human condition.

In this excellent novel the main characters, young parents named Sean and Gwen, were attacked in their home seventeen years ago. Gwen died and Sean suffered a blow to his head that left him unable to remember the assault. The police never found the murderer and Sean has not found closure, although he has tried to move on with his life by getting engaged and having another child. Through a series of bizarre events Sean now acquires a prototype to an invention called the Memory Palace. It resembles a TV with electrodes that attach to his temples and show him on a screen things that his brain has stored but his conscious mind has forgotten.

Sean wants to see his memory of the terrible night that Gwen was murdered, but the Memory Palace device shows events at random and mostly replays thousands of boring memories of daily tasks instead. Once in a while it brings up a meaningful memory that triggers all sorts of pleasurable emotions in Sean, and, like a slot machine, this intermittent reinforcement keeps Sean addicted to viewing.

In his single-mindedness to spend every second plugged into the memory box waiting for the footage that he desperately wants to see, Sean neglects literally everything and everyone in his life. He barely eats, moves, or sleeps, and puts his present life on hold for months in order to revisit the past. That’s where the meaning of the story lies and what makes it so thought provoking and deep.

If I would change anything about this book, I would make the plot a little tighter because there are some loose ends and the writing style was somewhat unfocused and repetitive.

I love at this author uses the story to bring up so many profound questions about what gives our lives value, meaning, and purpose. Sean’s fiancée, Hayley, points out that if Gwen hadn’t died, she and Sean would have never gotten together and they would not have their beautiful daughter Lucy. The son that Sean and Gwen had together, Nicky, was a baby when Gwen was murdered, and now as a teenager he is in a lot of emotional pain that Sean is too preoccupied to address. Sean truly loves Hayley, Lucy, and Nicky, and yet every time he is with them all he can think about is plugging back into the memory box so he can see his beloved dead wife Gwen.

I sometimes listen to a podcast called On Being hosted by Krista Tippett, which describes itself as exploring “animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?" I would bet money that the author of Scarecrow Has a Gun listens to this podcast too. (Mr. Kozlowsky if you read this, please feel free to confirm or deny. And if you haven’t listened to On Being, trust me, you will love it!)

The narrator of the audiobook, David Doersch, was a perfect fit for this story and easy to listen to. Thank you Netgalley and Imbrifex Audio for the advanced free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the theme of this book which delved into our memories and how they affect our lives. There was a good mystery as well that had a very satisfying resolution. Sometimes the story dragged a little. Most of the characters are unlikeable, even little Lucy. However, the idea that our memories are not always how it happened and that we forget so much of the mundane times of our lives really made me think about all MY memories. I was impressed with this book.

[Sophie Rinzler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished “Scarecrow Has A Gun” around ten minutes ago and I haven’t moved an inch since then; I’m frozen in awe still, struck by how phenomenal this thriller was. I wasn’t planning on reading “Scarecrow Has A Gun” in one sitting, but as soon as I read the first few pages I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop. Every single aspect of this book is perfection to a tee. The plot is so well defined and through out, everything is consistent and small details that seemed irrelevant end up holding the key in the end. The characters all developed perfectly and were so easy to imagine interacting and making the decisions they chose. And as someone who reads a lot of books within this genre and is well-accustomed to the stereotypical way they play out, Kozlowsky made it anything but a predictable thriller. I’ve read a lot of psychological thrillers, and wasn’t sure how “Scarecrow Has A Gun” would compare to them; Kozlowsky blew it out of the park and surpassed every single expectation I could’ve possibly had. Not only is this one of my current favorite psychological thrillers, but also one of my all-time favorite books. This was truly such an INCREDIBLE first adult novel, and I cannot wait to see what future works from Kozlowsky will bring!

Thank you to Michael Paul Kozlowsky and BookSirens for an advance reader copy of the book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Nothing is real. That was all I could think as I retreated from her room. Life could not be accurately reproduced. Not in photographs, not on video, not in memory. Real life came around once, and we had to catch it while it was taking place; otherwise, it was distorted. We were distorted. The only truth was in the box.”

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed following Sean and his memories through the black box, but I loved his character development by the end. Sean is a widow, newly engaged, with two children. Nick is an angsty teen who never met his biological mother, and Lucy is the sweetest five year old. Hayley is Lucy’s mother and Sean’s fiancée. Their family story is a whole other story of this book that is simply beautiful.

Sean wins a game hosted by his boss. He wins a black box that allows him to see his memories. This is where the book takes a really awesome turn. It bounces between Sean’s memories, the story’s plot line, and philosophy. I love the analysis of the fallacies of our memories throughout the book. I had to stop and contemplate what I read multiple times!

I LOVED every minute of it!!

Since reading, I keep wondering if I would want to relive memories clearly as they were and not just my perception at the time, or if perception and timing is a blessing of present life. Should the past be left there? Would it be cool to analyze your past?

Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this arc!

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Scarecrow Has a Gun was off the chain! I stop and had to look this author up in hopes of discovering more about how he writes. I had only children books that held no answers.
So how do I begin…… At first I was wondering why it started the way it did and tried to track this support group. And then it was was was I guess some intense insight to a person view. It touched on many things and I couldn’t figure out where it was going.
I want to point out by this time I was settled in and was interested. It’s a look at behavior and memory in a nut shell and we’re strapped in a roller coaster that flings you up side down.
If you’re patient it will all makes sense. Somewhat….. It’s a crazy story. I chose to listen to this book on audio and David Doersch narrated it. He did a suitable job.
Thanks Embrifex Audio via NetGalley.

[Nica Libres at Dusk ☁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★ 4 nothing is real stars!

“... Know this! Nothing is how we remember it.”

Wow.

From the very moment this book opened with the Widower's Club and the mind games of Mr. Ulger I was hooked. My curiosity got the best of me and finished this in one sitting. I love a good misery, and even better I love a good emotionally-charged memory reliving.

Plot —
Sean Whittlesea won his last Widower's Club game. It's no secret that every victor from the games seemed to have progressed in some way, either by company ranking or fame or fortune, they've come ahead of the rest. The reward was promise to be life-changing. Sean's is the Memory Palace, a cutting edge futuristic black box that allow its holder to relive every moment of his/her life by displaying all of his memories on a screen. He has now in his very hands the answers to the big mysteries in his life, but the more he get his answers the more he questions everything.

Sean in his binge-watching just-one-more-memory state:



Scarecrow Has A Gun came off as unexpectedly smart and very insightful read. I had not expect the thought-provoking undertone this one has. More to the point, it really made me think and question myself about my own memories and recollections. While I do believe that human memories are not reliable, this still makes me wonder about the extent in which our memories can be tainted. I must say though, the lengthy monologues of some of the characters can come off preachy at times but it was well-received on my end.

Just a few points:
1. Hayley - I can't feel her. I feel so little love between Sean and Hayley;
2. the mystery wasn't too hard guess but still it was satisfying when everything unraveled;
3. what even is the point of the widower's club? it'll be interesting to know the rest of the victors, how they turned out and the things this club made possible;
4. I need more of Auntie Josie the hippie.

I'm not the biggest sci-fi reader however I do have a soft spot for memory reliving, live-overs, and time-loops. There is something about those that makes me sentimental and emotional. Suffice to say this hit me heavily.

Thanks so much to Netgalley, Imbrifex Books, and Imbrifex Audio for the copy! I enjoyed this immensely. I was fortunate to be granted both the eARC and ALC so it's simultaneous reading and listening for me! Eh, that's just how I roll, lol.

Lineys — (might give away the plot, proceed with caution!)

“Tell me, Whittlesea, are we the lives we live or are we our memories?”

Life stalls when there is no more possibility, when our days and weeks and months and years become predictable, when there is no hope for change except in the thin and nearly transparent paper of a lottery ticket.

“ ... We are only where we are because of what has come before. I know who I am because I know who I was. I’m not afraid to die now. I’ve been through it all already. I’ll just move on, man.”

A moment was a moment only briefly before it became repetitive, redundant.

Memories were always said to be deceptive, but perhaps pictures were even more so.

The past was fabricated. To remember was a creative act.

Nothing is real ... Life could not be accurately reproduced. Not in photographs, not on video, not in memory. Real life came around once, and we had to catch it while it was taking place; otherwise, it was distorted. We were distorted. The only truth was in the box.

“But I did. Don’t you see? I am trying to help you. How else would you learn your true potential? It’s in all our movies and TV and books, isn’t it? Men grow when women suffer.”

“You didn’t live the life you thought you did. The lives we create for ourselves, the memories we form in place of the truth will always be the ones to shine most brilliantly. Those are the memories that seem the most real. And yet they are lies. Of course the life you lived is different from what you remember.”

“Because pain is the great manipulator, Sean. It changes everything . It alters pasts. It creates lies ...But it also makes one search. It makes one question. It makes one fight. And I need fighters in my own image. I need sufferers. Those are the ones who can rise highest. I did you a favor, Sean. With her, you were nothing. Without her, you can have anything you want.”

In other news, holy hellmuffin! First time listening to David Doersch, and this certainly won't be the last!

Audio: ★★★★
Plot: ★★★★
Writing: ★★★★
Narrated by: David Doersch

Publication date: 02 August 2022

I received an advance copy in exchange for honest thoughts and review.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook for review!

This book caught my eye because of the synopsis that made it sound like a mystery/sci-fi built on the fallibility of memory and the Manela Effect that we all experience. What I ended up getting was all of that and then some.

Scarecrow Has a Gun felt reminiscent of a Blake Crouch novel. With the personal, in the head of our protagonist writing style and an ominous, mysterious vibe that flowed through it all. This is a good thing since I really enjoy the books of Blake Crouch , such as Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy. The sci-fi elements are muted, limited mostly to the somewhat futuristic technology provided by the ominous Mr. Ulger. This story really is more of a mystery/thriller that uses memory and grief as its key drivers. The pacing is pretty quick which aids with keeping the reader engaged throughout.

I was not a huge fan of the various characters that we are presented with. Most are pretty unlikeable overall, but I think this was largely by design. It helped add to the dark feel of the story but unfortunately, it made them hard to cheer for. The narration was solid if unspectacular. It got the job done and the narrator coneyed the tone of the book well by how he read it.

Overall, I give it 4 stars. I really wanted to get back to it each time I stopped listening and that'a sign of a good read in my book.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had some reservations about this book when I looked at the cover. It didn't exactly knock my socks off, but the title was intriguing enough to make me want to know what lay between the covers.

It's true: don't judge a book by its cover. Once you start reading the book, you realise what the significance of the vague black object on the cover is, and also where the title 'Scarecrow Has A Gun" comes from.

Sean Whittlesea works at a boring job. What is interesting about his workplace, however, is that his boss has formed a Widower's Club that Sean is also a part of. Every year, there is a contest, or ceremony, if you will, where these men are given a task to complete, and whoever completes it first is made wealthy and successful beyond their imagination. This is facilitated by Sean's boss, Mr. Ulger, who provides the winners with technology from the future that changes their lives for the better.

Sean wins this contest one year and is given a gift to try out for a couple of weeks. This gift, The Memory Palace, enables Sean to re-live his memories and see whatever he had missed out on before.

Sean goes down the rabbit-hole of past memories, but they seem different somehow, not the way he remembers them. Are his memories of what happened faulty, or is the Memory Palace playing games with his mind?

In his quest to discover how his wife died (since he can't remember a thing), will he destroy everything that he has currently (a new partner and his kids) to uncover a mystery from the past? Will his obsession with the Memory Palace leave him a wreck, broken in mind and health?

Does Mr. Ulger have an ulterior motive for helping him out? What does he want in return? Once Sean discovers the truth about his wife's death, will it heal him or destroy him even further?

Even though it is pitched as Sci-Fi, it just skims the very surface of it. I believe it's more of a book about the nature of memory and the way we perceive and interpret it, and the importance we assign to certain memories, even letting some of them define who we are as individuals.

But what if the memories that you have and the truths that you believe in are actually not what happened? Does that mean that your whole life is a lie, and that you have been making decisions and looking at the world based on one particular version or interpretation of an event that may not have even occurred that exact way?

Sean was not exactly a firm and resolute character. He was too insecure and guilty after Gwen's (his wife) death, and not assertive enough as a father and as a partner. I found his fiancee, Hayley, absolutely dislikable. She was always upset and nagging and finding fault, so needy and insecure herself, such a nasty piece of work, and her treatment of his son was just not right.

Overall, I gave it 4 stars because, though I didn't buy the bit about Mr. Ulger tracking Sean for years and years of his life, it was an engrossing read (especially the beginning), it had an interesting premise without being too science-y, I found the reference to "Scarecrow Has a Gun" in the book (so interesting), and also, I LOVE PAYBACK! Take that, Mr. Ulger!

Thanks to Imbifrex Books and Netgalley who sent me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our memories define our lives. It’s through memories that we see ourselves and understand the world. What would happen if we had a chance to replay our true memories to see what actually happened at any given situation? What if the memories we watched were different than the memories we told ourselves? This is precisely what happens to Sean. Through his employment, he is given an opportunity to go back in time and record his memories. Sean’s first wife was murdered and although he was there when it happened, he can’t remember anything. The murderer was never found. Sean is eager to try out the memory box with hopes of drawing out his memories from that fateful evening.

This sci fi thriller had a ton of promise! This incredibly intriguing premise drew me in immediately. The mind blowing concept of having your life rewritten by watching old memories was one I was eager to read about. There were moments of brilliance but I wish they had been carved out more. More depth in characters and the sci fi plot were needed. I thought the beginning was well executed. However, as the plot progressed, it became less engaging to the point of ridiculous by the end. There was also something missing that resulted in a detached reading experience. I wanted to love this book but found it mediocre.

The audiobook narration was average.

I received an advanced audio copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Caroline Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an original and captivating sci fi read! Not only did it really make me think about memories and how they affect us, I was eager to see where it would all lead to and itching to get to the big reveal. I did crack a couple of the puzzles but I was only scratching the surface as there were reveals upon reveals. I totally loved the real life references and often found myself so intrigued I had to then go search for confirmation and further information. Things really ramped up towards the end and I was glued to the text. I enjoyed the dark undercurrent and found the ending deeply satisfying as well as super clever.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[M.P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For fans of:

Don DeLillo, Philip K. Dick, Laura Van den Berg, Hari Kunzru, Yoko Ogawa, Robert Coover, Jennifer Egan, Ian McEwan, K Chess, Kea Wilson, and more.

David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Alex Garland, Squid Game, Wizard of Oz, Stalker, Holy Motors, and more.

Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, The Waterboys, Peggy Lee, Guns N Roses, Blind Melon, Hall and Oates, Genesis, David Bowie, John Cale, and more.

Paranoia, memory, technology, film, conspiracy, the Mandela Effect, urban legends, NYC, and so much more.

(Leave some more comparisons in the comments.)

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

How much do you trust your memory?

Scarecrow Has a Gun by Michael Paul Kozlowski is a sci-fi trip that questions not just our own memory, but how much power can be wielded by the control of memory. I was captivated by this thought-provoking novel. David Doersch does a phenomenal job narrating this audio. I felt all the disquiet and desperation emerge from the character as the story unfolds.

Sean wins a bizarre contest by his boss and has access to a little black box called a Memory Palace that allows access to memories played out on screen. This is especially significant for Sean because there is a moment years ago that he can't remember...the death of his first wife in his arms. As he dives deeper into this little black box, his present is becoming skewed by his growing obsession of his past threatening his future with his new family and his career.

Again, this story made me contemplate what impact our memories have on who we think we are. This was a really crazy premise and the ending was superb. Especially enjoyed when the title phrase hit. The family dynamics were interesting and gave Sean a deeper humanity. I really liked this story, and it is a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @imbrifexbooks for this digital ARC! If you enjoy a good suspensful sci-fi story that leaves you thinking, pre-order this August 2 release!

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dean’s boss started a widows club that he belongs to due to the loss of his first wife his boss creates crazy and sometimes deadly situations that if just one of the widows attempts it they will win a life beyond their means in the names his boss rattles off as previous winners seems to attest to the credibility. Dean is never the winner but seems to get a consolation prize after years of showing up and it’s a box called the memory palace that will show you your memories from the past but when Dean starts indulging in this addictive box it seems his memories or nothing like he remembers. Not only that he thinks people are following him when he goes to speak to his boss about it once again the silver tongue man convinces Dean all is OK but once he leaves the building he wants again find himself doubting the box and this whole process. This box is making him look at everyone in his life differently especially his new wife Haley and he thinks people are following him but what he finds out is a lot crazier than what he’s imagined. This book is so great and I think the authors observations about life in general were spot on and he is obviously a man who analyzes even over analyze everything and we benefit from it in this book. I am so glad I decided to listen to this book and let me just say the narrator was so good and had the perfect voice for poor Dean. This is a crazy crazy book that I am so glad I listen to it I know I said that again but I want to reiterate that if you’re thinking of listening to scarecrow with a gun you really need to do it you will not be disappointed what a crazy crazy book! I received it from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[elle (taylor's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Imbrifex Books for providing me with this advanced reader copy to review. All of my ARC reviews are spoiler-free! Scarecrow Has a Gun is expected to release August 2nd 2022.

Several years ago, Sean Whittlesea’s wife was murdered and ever since he has repressed the memory, the specific circumstances of her death a mystery. Although he has settled down in a new relationship with Hayley, with whom he raises their daughter and his son, he lives on the edge of depression as he tries constantly to recall what happened that night.

Sean works for a man named Ulger, who periodically offers widowed men the chance to compete in challenges to win an unnamed prize; all that is known about the prize is that every man who has ever won has gone on to become rich and famous beyond their wildest dreams. This year, Sean finds himself the lucky winner and his prize is a small, black box-like contraption which attaches to his temple via two cords, and recalls to him in vivid detail all of his past memories, both notable and mundane. Believing that this box might be the key to remembering what occurred on the night of his wife’s death, Sean becomes obsessed with discovering how it works and how to navigate it to find that moment in time.

Scarecrow Has a Gun has a fantastic premise but doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be, so unfortunately I was disappointed and my expectations were not met. There were a lot of little unanswered questions and it all added up to not making a great deal of sense, which while in a SFF book might be excusable, this felt more like it just couldn’t be bothered to make itself make sense. For the most part, the science fiction element isn’t explored much at all, there is no real explanation about how the box works, what it is or how it would have served to make Sean rich and famous, as the memories only go backwards and provide no indication as to the future. It just exists as something that ‘is’ within this universe, which might work had this been established as common technology within the universe but it remains a mystery to almost everyone involved. While I generally enjoyed his writing style from the get-go, Kozlowsky’s prose is kept simple and easy to move through, this just felt uninspired, like he wanted to include a cool item without putting thought into it.

I did love the depiction of Sean’s growing obsession with the box, how it touched on the reality of how we become so focused on our past choices and how we paint ourselves in a better light when we look back to avoid the guilt that comes with knowing we are not perfect. It certainly left me questioning the moments in my own past that I don’t often think back to, and how honest I am with myself about what kind of person I have been and am right now.

I didn’t particularly like or find any of the characters compelling either, but I did get the impression a few times that this might have been deliberate. Sean was neglectful of his family, and spends far too much time mulling over his mundane memories. Frustratingly, we learn very little about Ulger, despite his potential to harness quite a unique position in this universe. There is also little to no mention of any of the previous winners of Ulger’s competitions, although I took this in part to be a representation of how the box consumes Sean, so too are we consumed in his story alone, forsaking the outside world as he does for so long.

This is definitely an interesting take on the idea of memories and how accurate our recollections are, and I did enjoy it for the most part, but I came out of it feeling like something was missing. I think it would have either done better as a shorter novella or as a longer novel that properly set up the world and the characters, because there was just too much filler and too many threads left loose.

[KarnagesMistress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book under the category Mystery & Thrillers. It also appears under Sci Fi & Fantasy. While neither of these genres are incorrect, they do not fully capture the depth of this work. If I had to compare Scarecrow Has a Gun to another book, it would be Walden Two. What I mean by that comparison is that, like B.F. Skinner, Michael Paul Kozlowsky has a psychological thesis, and he has constructed a fictional framework for its dissemination.

Scarecrow Has a Gun would be an excellent book club selection. Michael Paul Kozlowsky's treatise on the nature of memory is one that I can't help but share with others. After some days ruminating over it, I think he is more correct than not. At the very end of the book Michael Paul Kozlowsky tosses out another hypothesis: "Men grow when women suffer." (p. 249) I would have loved to see Michael Paul Kozlowsky expound on this, too.

My audiobook experience was over too soon for my tastes. My only complaint is that the ending was rushed, and a bit formulaic. No matter, Michael Paul Kozlowsky had reached me by then, and at a depth where I didn't necessarily care how they mystery ended. I sincerely hope that more people pick up this book, whether in paper, electronic, or audio version. Once you understand what you are actually experiencing, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

This book will also satisfy the Watauga County Public Library 2022 Reading Challenge (ending 12/31/2022) category A Book that Makes You Think. I would like to thank Imbrifex Books for allowing me to experience this NetGalley audiobook.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to begin with this review. Never have I been speechless. I can see where it would fall into the sci-fi category. But it’s even more psychological thriller. It will make you feel like you’re listening/watching a train wreck yet unable to stop. Leaving you with dread. I felt so paranoid. Sort of reminded me of that show Person Of Interest. It’s so hard to review without spoilers. Think Stephen King psychological thriller, when he writes about real life things that could happen. Yes, the biggest thing we need to fear is our own memories and mind. Did what we remember really happen? If so, was it as we think it was? Sometimes your psyche does things to protect itself from the horror. And sometimes pleasant memories weren’t really as pleasant as we thought. This book is so many genres in one. At the core, is the big mystery of who killed Sean’s wife. After all, he was knocked out.

I didn’t like his second wife Haley at the beginning. Then I got to know her and see why some things made her like she was. Sean was a train wreck himself. Always wondering and would do anything for answers. Well, his boss seems to have something that would solve all his problems. The black box. Just plug the wires into your temples and you can see your past. But be careful, you can’t control what you see or pick and choose. And sometimes, not everything is as it appears. Some things are nothing like you THINK you remember. Wanna go back in time and relive it? Just plug in. Sean becomes obsessive. Some times we just don’t know how good we’ve got it. All and all, my take away from this? Live in the present. I’ve heard this and been told this so many times, especially if I’ve been depressed sometimes. I never really knew how to do this or if it was possible. But now I do. And now, more than ever, I see why it’s so important and count my blessings.

The narrator was pretty good. At first I wasn’t crazy about him but as I listened, he became a really good narrator for this type of book. I LOVED the ending. Wish this could be made into a movie. I’m not sure why so many of us rated it three stars except the fact it’s someone we love to hate. Creepy really.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author for this opportunity

[Twainy · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh I loved this book. LOL I’ve been thinking about it all day.

What if there was a way to relive your memories. If there was a way to bottle your memories what could we do with them? What if those memories weren’t exactly how we remembered them?

This book started with an introduction to Sean’s boss in a life threatening game involving the Widowers Club.

This book flies off on some pretty wild tangents. If the summary or what I’ve written here sound interesting then you should definitely pick up this book! You’re never quite sure what the truth is. I loved the ending!

Thank you NetGalley & Imbrifex Books, this was a crazy great story!!

It was like a Guy Ritchie film in novel form. Fast read!

I will be thinking about this one for awhile. It was weird.

[Lyrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just- wow. This book is so well written that it had me thinking about what if we actually had a device/devices like this how much would our life’s change and how much our memories affect our every day life’s. The ending was also very unexpected but in a good way. Overall this book is a 5 star and a must read!