Review by LangDave -- Randy Love...at your service
Posted: 18 Jun 2018, 17:12
[Following is a volunteer review of "Randy Love...at your service" by Shay Carter.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Randy Love at Your Service by Shay Carter
Summary---Randy Love at Your Service is the story of a young man who appears to be on the road to success, yet he encounters a number of unexpected turns. Examples include enduring a waiting period for getting a flat or dealing with a compromised credit card. Randy Love seems to be a magnet for attracting women, but he seems to be playing the field carefully. He has a steady relationship with a woman named Nicky, who he met at a business function hosted by his brother James’ Law Firm. Randy eventually gets some various life-lessons. Randy’s older sister Heather teaches him a powerful lesson about human relations. Get ready for an exciting ride in the adventures of Randy Love.
Review—When I first read a synopsis of the book, I thought this was going to be the story of a young man who can’t hold a job and is lacking self-discipline. Actually, I thought of the 1991 Frank Whaley movie “Career Opportunities”, as Whaley plays a 20-something named Jim Dodge who puts on a front for being a people person. But the Jim Dodge character also tends to get fired from numerous entry-level jobs. I predicted “Randy Love at Your Service” would have a somewhat similar storyline. But as I read Shay Carter’s book, I learned it was not the case at all.
Set in England, Randy Love turns out to be a charismatic young man who has many friends, a man who can easily attract the opposite sex at the drop of a hat, someone who has a sense of direction, and he seems to have definitive goals of who he wants to be and what he wants out of life.
In the prologue, it was made clear Randy was a handful at birth. His mother—in her 50’s—apparently died from childbirth complications although it was not directly stated in the text. On page 6 of 262, Carter described Randy’s father John Love as a man who had “colorful language”, and his last words to his wife were rather colorful. Randy was also born at the time his brother James and sister Heather were successful adults in their own careers. The baby’s naming was a tribute to Jazz and R&B singer Randy Crawford, and if it had been a baby girl, Veronica would have been the chosen name. Randy’s brother James is a partner in a law firm. Randy’s sister Heather has been instrumental in spearheading government expansion projects. The prologue was the perfect scene-setter for understanding the rest of the storyline.
John had concerns about Randy’s future and worried that his son could be someone who “bums around” and someone who might evade parental responsibilities. However to me, instead of being someone who showed tough-love, John struck me as being rather passive. One example was the discussion with Randy about the son’s credit card issues, and Randy’s response of if only his father attended his parent-teacher conferences, school plays, and end-of-year awards, he could have learned how to head-off this particular issue of a cloned credit card. Now I know what Randy said is speaking to a stronger message of teaching that tough-love and self-discipline, but I have to say it was an indirect approach.
Another example, John brought up Randy damaging his father’s car as a way of coercing Randy to connect with his aunt.
But where John seemed to lack assertiveness, family friend Michael Goddard seemed to be someone who filled in the gaps. But I thought it was not Michael’s job to be the authoritarian. As one who declares himself a “larger-than-life, self-taught tax adviser”, I don’t think calling Michael sanctimonious or self-righteous would be doing him justice. I would call him hypocritical. One example, he claimed to know all about jobs at McDonald’s restaurants yet—by his own admission—was never inside a McDonald’s. He claimed to know through reading an article. While reading about a venue or an event may provide some knowledge, nothing beats actual experience, at least in this writer’s mind. Michael really has no business giving unsolicited advice to Randy. Clearly, that should be John’s job. But to Michael’s credit later in the book, when Randy did express he was in a relationship he wanted to break away from, it was Michael who helped provide Randy by word-of-mouth the appropriate escape hatch. Randy ironically referred to Michael as “a genius”, yet—to borrow Carter’s words again-- colorful language was used in the description. I use the word “ironically” because it seemed to me Randy did not really enjoy many conversations about Michael Goddard’s sense of wisdom.
Randy had his share of adult problems. As mentioned earlier, there was a cloned credit card. He had to deal with calls from the card issuer to make payments until an investigation is completed on the compromised account. After going through two previous flats due to either financial or ethical issues, Randy’s third home with a flat-mate named Stanforth involved situations that did not go according to (Randy’s) plan. One was signing separate leases, whereas in contrast, Randy wanted a single lease with rent being split between Stanforth and himself. Another issue was a four-week wait before move-in. On top of that, Randy predicted he would be allowed to stay with his brother James in the interim, but that hope was also dashed. Read the book to find out the reason. From there, Randy stayed in a rather rocky relationship with Nicky but he did date around. Randy met Nicky during a function hosted by his brother’s law firm.
In separate encounters, both Randy’s brother James and sister Heather gave some powerful messages. James would not put Randy up in his home as a means of escaping the relationship with Nicky. Heather had a powerful message about human relations itself. I liked Shay Carter’s particular quote from Heather on page 252 of 262, “I do enjoy people. They provide hours of entertainment”.
On that note, I will leave it to the reader to discover how the story ends for Randy and Nicky.
One side note, it was mentioned Randy was set to go back to university. How many returning college students would get to tell the story of having a senior-level job position? In the case of Randy Love, he was a Senior Bank Clerk at the Stornford Building Society. But it later became clear to this writer a position at the Stornford Building Society was a low-paying job that did not tend to attract highly-educated employees.
I rate the book Four out of Four Stars. The writer did a good job constructing a story that held my attention. It can be a good life lesson for not only the younger generation, but any age group about the challenges and metaphorical speed bumps one can encounter in life.
******
Randy Love...at your service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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4 out of 4 stars
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Randy Love at Your Service by Shay Carter
Summary---Randy Love at Your Service is the story of a young man who appears to be on the road to success, yet he encounters a number of unexpected turns. Examples include enduring a waiting period for getting a flat or dealing with a compromised credit card. Randy Love seems to be a magnet for attracting women, but he seems to be playing the field carefully. He has a steady relationship with a woman named Nicky, who he met at a business function hosted by his brother James’ Law Firm. Randy eventually gets some various life-lessons. Randy’s older sister Heather teaches him a powerful lesson about human relations. Get ready for an exciting ride in the adventures of Randy Love.
Review—When I first read a synopsis of the book, I thought this was going to be the story of a young man who can’t hold a job and is lacking self-discipline. Actually, I thought of the 1991 Frank Whaley movie “Career Opportunities”, as Whaley plays a 20-something named Jim Dodge who puts on a front for being a people person. But the Jim Dodge character also tends to get fired from numerous entry-level jobs. I predicted “Randy Love at Your Service” would have a somewhat similar storyline. But as I read Shay Carter’s book, I learned it was not the case at all.
Set in England, Randy Love turns out to be a charismatic young man who has many friends, a man who can easily attract the opposite sex at the drop of a hat, someone who has a sense of direction, and he seems to have definitive goals of who he wants to be and what he wants out of life.
In the prologue, it was made clear Randy was a handful at birth. His mother—in her 50’s—apparently died from childbirth complications although it was not directly stated in the text. On page 6 of 262, Carter described Randy’s father John Love as a man who had “colorful language”, and his last words to his wife were rather colorful. Randy was also born at the time his brother James and sister Heather were successful adults in their own careers. The baby’s naming was a tribute to Jazz and R&B singer Randy Crawford, and if it had been a baby girl, Veronica would have been the chosen name. Randy’s brother James is a partner in a law firm. Randy’s sister Heather has been instrumental in spearheading government expansion projects. The prologue was the perfect scene-setter for understanding the rest of the storyline.
John had concerns about Randy’s future and worried that his son could be someone who “bums around” and someone who might evade parental responsibilities. However to me, instead of being someone who showed tough-love, John struck me as being rather passive. One example was the discussion with Randy about the son’s credit card issues, and Randy’s response of if only his father attended his parent-teacher conferences, school plays, and end-of-year awards, he could have learned how to head-off this particular issue of a cloned credit card. Now I know what Randy said is speaking to a stronger message of teaching that tough-love and self-discipline, but I have to say it was an indirect approach.
Another example, John brought up Randy damaging his father’s car as a way of coercing Randy to connect with his aunt.
But where John seemed to lack assertiveness, family friend Michael Goddard seemed to be someone who filled in the gaps. But I thought it was not Michael’s job to be the authoritarian. As one who declares himself a “larger-than-life, self-taught tax adviser”, I don’t think calling Michael sanctimonious or self-righteous would be doing him justice. I would call him hypocritical. One example, he claimed to know all about jobs at McDonald’s restaurants yet—by his own admission—was never inside a McDonald’s. He claimed to know through reading an article. While reading about a venue or an event may provide some knowledge, nothing beats actual experience, at least in this writer’s mind. Michael really has no business giving unsolicited advice to Randy. Clearly, that should be John’s job. But to Michael’s credit later in the book, when Randy did express he was in a relationship he wanted to break away from, it was Michael who helped provide Randy by word-of-mouth the appropriate escape hatch. Randy ironically referred to Michael as “a genius”, yet—to borrow Carter’s words again-- colorful language was used in the description. I use the word “ironically” because it seemed to me Randy did not really enjoy many conversations about Michael Goddard’s sense of wisdom.
Randy had his share of adult problems. As mentioned earlier, there was a cloned credit card. He had to deal with calls from the card issuer to make payments until an investigation is completed on the compromised account. After going through two previous flats due to either financial or ethical issues, Randy’s third home with a flat-mate named Stanforth involved situations that did not go according to (Randy’s) plan. One was signing separate leases, whereas in contrast, Randy wanted a single lease with rent being split between Stanforth and himself. Another issue was a four-week wait before move-in. On top of that, Randy predicted he would be allowed to stay with his brother James in the interim, but that hope was also dashed. Read the book to find out the reason. From there, Randy stayed in a rather rocky relationship with Nicky but he did date around. Randy met Nicky during a function hosted by his brother’s law firm.
In separate encounters, both Randy’s brother James and sister Heather gave some powerful messages. James would not put Randy up in his home as a means of escaping the relationship with Nicky. Heather had a powerful message about human relations itself. I liked Shay Carter’s particular quote from Heather on page 252 of 262, “I do enjoy people. They provide hours of entertainment”.
On that note, I will leave it to the reader to discover how the story ends for Randy and Nicky.
One side note, it was mentioned Randy was set to go back to university. How many returning college students would get to tell the story of having a senior-level job position? In the case of Randy Love, he was a Senior Bank Clerk at the Stornford Building Society. But it later became clear to this writer a position at the Stornford Building Society was a low-paying job that did not tend to attract highly-educated employees.
I rate the book Four out of Four Stars. The writer did a good job constructing a story that held my attention. It can be a good life lesson for not only the younger generation, but any age group about the challenges and metaphorical speed bumps one can encounter in life.
******
Randy Love...at your service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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