The Cotton Candy Machine

A tense, darkly funny novel about work, family, and the violence of being disagreeable.

Declan Burke knows how to be good.

He keeps the house running. He makes the meetings smoother. He answers emails the way other men defuse bombs-carefully, politely, hoping no one notices his hands shaking. In an office culture where "alignment" means obedience and "support" comes with strings, Declan has learned to survive by becoming useful, agreeable, and almost invisible.

But as pressure climbs-at work, ...