The Cordial Trap (Paperback)

Alan Smith, who is jokingly called Alan Smithee by his colleagues, works as the assistant complex manager of a multiplex cinema in downtown Chicago. Although he is enthusiastic about cinema he hates his job: long hours and regular overtime for little pay, annoying customers, and his workload does not seem to get any less. On top of it all he hates his boss, Mr. Frankenheimer, who often treats his staff unfairly and yells at them for no good reason. Still, Alan does not quit his job because he is too afraid to go looking for a new job that might turn out even worse than the one he has now. When a plumber gets poisoned and a colleague mysteriously disappears it dawns on Alan that his colleagues are planning something that would change the workplace forever, but not necessarily for the worse. As if keeping the plan a secret was not enough to worry about, Alan has to deal with Becky, his ex-girlfriend who cheated on him with her gym teacher but is now seeking to get back together with Alan. He has dreamt about it since she left but now he is not so sure anymore if it is what he really wants. Luckily he has his friends by his side, most of all Daria who works at the cinema as a projectionist, and who seems to understand Alan in more ways than just a real good friend.