Carroll, Jerry Jay

Top Dog

William Bogart Ingersol (Bogey) is a cynical, unsentimental Wall Street insider whose major preoccupation is making deals and adding to his substantial wealth--or it was, before he found himself transported to the Fair Lands, trapped in a dog's body, and of interest to both sides in a war between Good and Evil. Bogey figures his priority is to get back home, get back into human form, and get on with his life: "When I have a problem, there's only one question I ask--how do I solve it? Goodness doesn't enter into it, unless there's some PR angle you need to watch." He needs to figure out who is likeliest to win and get him out of this mess. As he continues dealing with both sides, however, he begins having second thoughts.

This is an unabashed morality play in the form of a novel. It works because Jerry Jay Carroll makes Bogey such a recognizable modern Everyman, and because the representatives of Good and Evil are real characters, not just cutouts. Bogey's running internal commentary on the straightforward, Tolkienesque fantasy setting and characters surrounding him, and on his former life, also helps keep things from getting too preachy. --Nona Vero

Alice in Wonderland meets Wall Street in Jerry Jay Carroll's brilliant and witty debut novel. A high-powered executive gets a real lesson in looking out for #1 when he wakes up as a dog. Gone are the stock reports, limos and cocktail parties. In their place are fairy-tale forests, magical creatures, and hideous monsters. It's a world where you're either good or evil. Our hero decides to explore both options before choosing...


* Carroll is a powerful new voice--acclaimed by heavyweights such as Richard North Patterson, Martin Cruz Smith, and Entertainment Weekly
* A stylish, funny combination of parable and moral tale...Imaginative, seductively written, and a pleasure to read.

--Richard North Patterson
* [Carroll's] tight, colorful prose proves zesty and absorbing. His plot has touches of that Tolkienesque irresistibility, that thing that keeps you up past bedtime turning pages.--San Francisco Chronicle
* His next novel, Security Concerns, will be an Ace trade paperback (7/98)

Inhuman Beings

Jerry Jay Carroll's second novel, Inhuman Beings, is a cynical, hilarious blend of Raymond Chandler and Philip K. Dick. Former cop Goodwin Armstrong finds his detective agency getting mysteriously muscled out of business, and his only lead is a wacky dame who calls herself Princess Dulay. The princess has detected psychic vibrations indicating that aliens--in a ship the size of a bowling ball--have invaded Earth. It's no joke to Armstrong, as first his fleabag hotel mysteriously explodes, and then his contacts begin to disappear--or worse, start acting very unlike themselves. He can't trust anyone, or anything, as elevators plummet, security cameras swivel to watch his movements, and kamikaze seagulls plunge through skylights to attack him. Carroll's dialogue is witty, his hero engaging, and his story swift-paced. Altogether, Inhuman Beings is a satisfying science fiction adventure that proves to be just as entertaining as Carroll's first novel, the lighthearted fantasy Top Dog. --Blaise Selby

Jerry Carroll's wonderful literary fantasy Top Dog introduced readers to a major new talent--and garnered stunning praise from Entertainment Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, Richard North Patterson, and Martin Cruz Smith. Now, he transcends the genre with a story as witty as Men in Black, as dark as Independence Day, and as original as any fiction being written today. Goodwin Armstrong is an ex-cop turned private eye. He's seen misery, pain, and paranoia before--and that was just during his divorce. But things in San Francisco are getting strange and dangerous, and he's running out of explanations. It starts with the sleazeball hotel where he's staying--it burns down in a flash of electric blue light. Security and traffic cameras pan to follow him. Someone seems to know his every move. But why? His newest client is a psychic who feels in her very soul that something bad, something inhuman, is about to happen. And the gun in his pocket and the brain in his head won't be enough to fight it.

Dog Eat Dog

Bogey Ingersol is finding it hard to do the right thing. The wealthy corporate raider spent most of Jerry Jay Carroll's first novel, Top Dog, as a large canine, confronting a choice between Good and Evil. In the Fair Lands, Bogey reevaluated his life. When returned to Earth and his human body, he gave up his career on Wall Street, divorced his faithless trophy wife, and set about doing good with his ill-gotten gains. Naturally, everybody thinks he's crazy. His only companions are dogs he rescues.

In Dog Eat Dog, Bogey dreams of the Pig-faces, murderous half-men recruited by the evil wizard Zalzathar to take over the Fair Lands. Then a neighbor is horribly murdered by the Pig-faces and evidence pointing to Bogey is planted. Zalzathar has followed him to this world. But he and his boss, Satan, want more than just revenge. They're behind tycoon Bernie Soderberg's run for President. Only Bogey realizes the danger his world is in and only he can organize the defense--if he can keep from being killed, locked up, or turned back into a dog.

Fans of C.S. Lewis will enjoy Dog Eat Dog, a pointed social satire with a Judeo-Christian moral. --Nona Vero

In his brilliant debut novel, Jerry Jay Carroll introduced readers to William "Bogie" Ingersoll, a bloodthirsty corporate raider who marked his territory on Wall Street with the people he destroyed. Then one day Bogie awoke in an enchanted world as a big, shaggy dog who marked his territory somewhat differently... "If Kafka and Tolkien shared an office on Wall Street, this is the novel they might have written."--San Francisco Chronicle
"A witty, adult, and imaginative fable."--Martin Cruz Smith
Now Bogie's back. He learned his lesson in that magical world, using his new "leash" on life to help the poor and adopt every stray dog he can find. But little does Bogie know that something has followed him back to this world. Something that has learned all the dirty tricks Bogie used to pull in the financial world. Except this evil being has set his sights not on Wall Street, but Pennsylvania Avenue. And Bogie's going to have to get mean. Mad dog mean.