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Malcolm Gray, called Mal, is your average everyday guy. He wakes up, goes to work, goes to meetings, and goes home. Oh, yeah, and he hangs out in trees when he's feeling stressed. Then his life begins to crumble. It starts when he finds out that the woman he thought was his ex-wife isn't - they never actually got divorced! Then, through some random cosmic act, Mal begins to question the world around him, beginning with the company he's employed by.

His questions set off a chain reaction of immense proportions. Suicides, evil plots, madness and insanity ricochet through the towering diPisano building, warping minds and sending every character bouncing off the others. From diPisano himself down to the lowly Marketing clones, this one day will spell the end of their dreams. For some, it will be the very beginning of their nightmare. All Mal wants to know is if the huge company ErectSoft, Inc has ever actually finished one of the many custom software projects that have been started through the years. The answer itself is meaningless, but the course to the truth is full of pitfalls and universal mayhem. If he can stay sane - and alive - he might just learn the secrets behind the diPisano building, and behind diPisano himself, as well.

Hilarious, and ringing with wry truth, TEAM PLAYER is a novel best enjoyed by those who can appreciate the absurdity of modern life. Written in a distinctive style, the book is full of vividly painted characters and odd, nearly unbelievable events that all tie together neatly in the end, though are a bit confusing before you get there. Lovingly detailed, Mitchell uses a series of scenes, emails and vignettes to lead the reader spellbound and helpless with incredulous laughter. His characterization is deep, yet the book itself is easily read. Off-beat, darkly humorous and all-too-realistic, TEAM PLAYER is a truly great read.

Reviewed by Ann Leveille in The Best Reviews

Does he like it? Does he secretly hate it? You judge.

Timothy Mark in Tregolwyn Reviews

No no no! Mal is not the last great man. That would be diPisano

Malcolm Gray works in the Bonanno building, tallest in the world, for Erectsoft, INC, a software company that offers solutions to its clients. Problems arise when changes are affected in more ways than one within and around the company and its employees. And Mal who has never questioned his place as one of the cogs in this great industrial mass begins to wonder if he should. Author Biff Mitchell writes with humor and understanding in this satirical social commentary. You will meet the faceless worker clone who is afraid to use his or her own judgement in doing their job, the supervisors who have risen above their levels of incompetency, the boss who deludes himself into thinking his employees love him as well as the few bold individuals who dare stand alone, even if it leaves them up a tree. A tale where you will identify with the characters who ownder if anything ever gets completed, where spies watch each other, and everyone plays victim to someone else. By indulging in sidewise thinking, you may even come to understand why some characters use strang methods to resolve their problems. Read and find out why Mal is called the last great man, why he is the chosen one to save the world. Guaranteed to make you see industrial complexes with new eyes and as if they make life unnecessarily complicated just to have a market for their goods. A story to satisfy any lover of futuristic or satirical reads. 

Reviewed by Anne K. Edwards in Blether: The Book Review Site

From the Author of the Soon-To-Be Best Selling Novel 24/7

It's really not going to be a good day for Mal Gray. He works in the world's tallest building, a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa; he's just found out he never officially divorced his wife; he's got a hoard of rogue neutrinos steaming a line straight to his brain and all he wants to do is sit in the tree in his office and escape the hundreds of mindless e-mails bombarding him.

This is just the first couple of pages of Biff Mitchell's satire, Team Player. In this book, Biff weaves a bombastic and hilarious parody of corporate life into the possible destruction of the universe. Unfortunately for Mal, instead of being able to stay in his tree he's struck with an odd question on this day. As the jargon- filled e-mails keep hitting his inbox, he suddenly wonders exactly what the hell he's doing. He wonders what everyone at his company is doing. And then he asks the question out loud: Do we actually finish any projects here?

As Mal digs deeper, he uncovers layers of depravity and sinister motivations behind the company and the building where he works. It seems that not only is the company a methodically corrupt business that enslaves its customers but the building is a beacon for an otherworldly, destructive, sentient thing. Believe me, it all gets pulled together, but to divulge too much here would ruin the pleasure of unwrapping the mysteries contained in this book.

Mal is a solid centering character amid the large cast of outlandish ones. Inside these pages you'll find homicidal marketing "clones;" lemming-like mass suicidal employees; a sultry executive; an unstoppable, philosophical, evil, adversarial entity as the villain and thirty naked pagan women.

For those who like their reading material literal and rooted in reality with concise, crisp plots, this novel isn't for you. But if you're willing to take the dive into the surreal realm where bats fly out of evil people's eyes and where parody is exploited for laughs of absurdity and is sprinkled with racy humor and outlandish, winding events, you'll probably love this book. The tension builds, the prose sings and laughs keep coming as the multiple plot ingredients congeal beautifully. Team Player tackles the absurdity of corporate life, specifically the IT industry; but it ends up being more than the sum of just these wacky parts. It's a fresh, vibrant, and engrossing read that'll keep you laughing even while you're on the edge of your seat. 

Reviewed by Susan DiPlacido in Blue Iris Journal