In The Great American Betrayal, famous private investigator Frank Harken is once again joined by his trusty, indispensable coffeebot, Arjay, who narrates and footnotes their adventures through the absurd continent-spanning mall as only he can. And once again, it’s a good thing Arjay’s around, because as always Harken could really, really use a cup of coffee.
Can you blame him?
Their new case features a blackmailed Great American influencer, possibly a murder, maybe a frame-up, and Harken has to deal with a ventriloquist, a juggler, a General Major, and a party of truly ridiculous, riotous proportions. Plus, he can’t seem to escape old favorites like Iceberg, Tommy Ten-Toes, Nutella, and Officer Gunner Claymore. And perhaps most vexing of all, Arjay’s decided to wear a hat.
As Harken and Arjay explore the Great American for answers to the case’s twists and turns and get pulled deeper into the mall’s secret machinations, Scott Stein satirizes pretty much everything, including Great American celebrity, justice, education, bowling, pop culture, bagels, dogs, fandom, retail, entertainment, genre, and storytelling itself.
Hold onto your hat (and Arjay’s!) and grab a cup of coffee. The Great American Betrayal is a wild ride that’ll keep you laughing late into the night.
“A clever novel that just consistently dances on the edge of absurdity; it’s a great and witty time.”
—Vulture.com, “The Best Comedy Books of 2022”
“The Great American Betrayal is a wickedly funny novel jam-packed with madcap invention and verbal hijinks that are sure to be a hit with fans of Douglas Adams and Stanislaw Lem. Scott Stein writes wild plots and sentences that tie your brain in delicious knots while working his inimitable brand of bravura cosmic absurdity. God bless him.”
—Gabe Hudson, author of Dear Mr. President and Gork, the Teenage Dragon
“Delightful, sparkling, zany, with clever references to Kafka and Orwell and Borges, and narrated by a lovable crime-solving coffeebot, The Great American Betrayal takes the dysfunction of our social-media-riveted world and ramps it up to absurdist heights in service of a rollicking, engrossing mystery.”
—Vikram Paralkar, author of Night Theater and The Afflictions
“I love Scott Stein’s writing. It’s effervescent. The Great American Betrayal practically fizzed on my tongue. It’s sharp and silly and a hell of a lot of fun to read.”
—Mike Sacks, author of Passing on the Right, Stinker Lets Loose, and Poking a Dead Frog
“Stein’s The Great American Betrayal is a blast! A coffee-maker turned detective and his laconic, ‘Not-An-English-Professor’ partner deliver a fun story and a good-humored skewering of contemporary American culture in this winning sequel.”
—Chantel Acevedo, author of the Muse Squad series and The Curse on Spectacle Key
