but when I'd finished, I rather wished I hadn't bothered. The moral is clear - don't neglect family for work - but this is not a light and frivolous Christmas story. He does start to feel more human towards the end - and then there's a depressing conclusion. I kept finding myself forgetting who was whom (other than Lou and Gabe) and slightly startled when there was a temporary return to the teenage boy at the police station. And it just gets odder and odder, Gabe eventually giving Lou some tablets that have a very peculiar effect which temporarily seems to make his busy life rather easier. Themes like guilt, feeling left out, lack of confidence are told in the authors strong storytelling which is very engaging. Gabe is a homeless man whom Lou buys a coffee. It's never spelled out who Gabe is but the Christmas theme and the events that unfold make it fairly obvious. Lou is a workaholic who neglects his family. A teenage boy, angry at his parents, is taken to a police station and then told a long story about a guy called Lou whom the police dealt with that morning. In between dreams, he ran through the events of the day while making plans for the next. He always had two places to be at the same time. Not as quirky as some of the author's other books, but bizarre a tale within a tale. If you could wish for one gift this Christmas, what would it be Everyday Lou Suffern battled with the clock. I thought this would be a pleasant light read for the Christmas season, and expected to finish it quickly, reading a chapter or two each evening.
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