L o b a B l a n c a {dot} c o m

I come to sing the rarest of songs here in America: praise for customer service.

This time the company in question is TigerDirect. If you’re a techno-geek of any magnitude, you simply must know about TigerDirect. They’re awesome. I’ve been ordering parts from them for more than a decade, and I’ve yet to be disappointed.

However, the time comes in every geek’s life when a return must be made, even to the best of stores. This return, though, was of my own bungling variety and not their fault at all. And so I went to their site and began the return process, fearing either retribution or incompetence (the former in response to me being a dimwit, the latter simply because that’s all I expect from customer service anymore).

The only way they could have made the return process simpler or more stress-free would have involved coming to my house and retrieving the merchandise in person. And that’s why I am here now, singing their praises. They understand that part of providing great service is making it easy to return merchandise.

So there you go: If you ever need anything computer-related for reasonable prices and reasonable shipping times, plus the added net of excellent return policies, then TigerDirect is the online store for you.

Okay, so I wasn’t completely honest when I said that I didn’t know what first drew me to Captivity by Debbie Lee Wesselmann. It was the spot varnish on the cover.

Sadly, I’m not kidding. I’m quite the sucker for well-placed spot varnish, and so I was instantly hooked by the spot-varnished chimpanzee eyes that caught the library’s fluorescent lighting so playfully as I passed by the New Release shelf.

For the most part, I’m glad that I let my soft spot for spot varnish dictate this pick. I also am a sucker for animal stories. I think I’ve already shown this by my propensity to pick up a book because it has a dog on the cover. SUCKER.

Anyway, this was a bit of an odd story, centering on the machinations of a make-believe primate sanctuary and its director. Wrapped up in the sanctuary’s mix of political and collegiate intrigue are the director’s personal issues, secrets, and wounds, all coming to surface in this perfect chimp-related storm.

I don’t necessarily think this one’s going to be for everyone. In fact, there’s only one person of whom I immediately thought in regard to recommending this book, and that’s because she works in a field similar to the one presented in this book, only with a different endangered species. The primary story is engaging enough, and there are several subplots that unfold along the way…but it really is all about chimps. Chimps at the sanctuary. Chimps from the director’s past. Chimps in laboratories. Chimps, chimps, chimps.

I’m not a big fan of chimps, so admittedly I felt my interest wane here and there. However, toward the end, I couldn’t put down the book (either because the story finally took me over or because I just wanted to be finished and moving along in my challenge). I feel a bit badly for not giving Captivity a more positive review because it’s really not a bad book. It’s just not going to be everyone’s cup of tea (not everyone likes banana-flavored tea, do they?).

Final score: 2.5/5.

I’ve got a bit of book blindness regarding my next read. Guess I’ll just have to wait to see what I’m seeing next in my scope…