Synopses & Reviews
14-year-old Loren is the unlikely hero of Mambo Dogface. Loren's obsessed with all things military: Special Forces, secret missions, rules and regulations ?it's all so finite and orderly. Especially compared to other parts of Loren's life. His mom, for example, keeps introducing him to a string of loser boyfriends, and each time Loren responds by dreaming up creative ways to trash the boyfriends? stuff. The latest one, a golf pro, is so irritating that Loren decides to stage a night raid and vandalize the pro's beloved golf course. When the mission goes embarrassingly awry, Loren's mom sends him to Camp Ascend , a remote facility that specializes in whipping ?mixed-up? teens back into shape. Camp Ascend was founded by Ray Kellogg, a.k.a. the ?Colonel, ? who claims a distinguished military background but is really a con man with zero military experience but a few convictions for fraud. The Colonel runs the place with his overly tanned wife (who hates being out in the woods) and her manic brother (who doesn?t like kids). When Loren figures out what the camp and the Colonel are really about, he finds himself with a real-life mission: redeem himself and the other delinquents at Camp Ascend , and take the place down.
Synopsis
A sharp, dark, humorous debut about a teenage commando wannabe who runs amok in a boot camp for juvenile delinquents.
Fourteen-year-old Loren is obsessed with all things military: Special Forces, secret missions, rules, and regulationsits all so finite and orderly. Especially compared to other parts of Lorens life. His mom, for example, keeps introducing him to a string of loser boyfriends, and the latest one, the golf pro, is so irritating that Loren decides to stage a night raid and vandalize his beloved golf course.
When the mission goes embarrassingly awry, Lorens mom sends him to Camp Ascend!, where a dedicated staff of specialists are trained to whip “mixed-up” teens back into shape. Or so it seems.
What Lorens mom doesnt knowand what Loren soon discoversis that Camp Ascend! is actually a scam run by an ex-con nicknamed “the Colonel,” his ditzy, overly tanned wife, and her manic, kid-hating brother. And so Loren finally has a real-life mission: to free himself and his new posse of delinquent friends from Camp Ascend! and to take the place down.
About the Author
Jeff Garigliano is a magazine editor living in New York City. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served as an officer in the navy for five years before getting a masters degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dogface is his first novel.