Eli Gottleib's Now You See Him (HarperCollins, Feb.) is an unsettling but brilliant debut novel. Nick Framingham's childhood best friend, Rob Castor, is an acclaimed author who murders his girlfriend and commits suicide. Examining his own life, Nick sinks into a morass with seemingly no escape. Nick's tribulations perfectly portray the vicissitudes that can destroy the fragility of human existence. In his questioning of Rob's life and his own, he finds that his own identity is an illusion, and stability a lie. Gottlieb effortlessly pulls the reader into this story of destruction, yet still holds back some surprises for an ending that is both shocking and consistent. This is a stark, tight novel with tremendous impact. The spare, controlled prose gives perfect voice to its desolate tale. It is not a story for those looking for an uplifting experience, but it is one for those who appreciate superb literature.