Maxwell’s Demon

TV and video game writer Hall’s mind-bending novel (after The Raw Shark Texts) chases its protagonist at full speed through a labyrinth of philosophical conundrums. Underachieving author Thomas Quinn is in trouble. He can’t pay his bills, and his wife is away on scientific research halfway across the world. He’s still wrestling with the death of his famous writer-father and the disappearance of his father’s protégé, Andrew Black, whose own thriller, to Quinn’s chagrin, was a bestseller. After Quinn receives a disturbing letter from Black, which includes a photo of a strange black sphere, weird things begin to occur, such as a message from his dead father on his answering machine, leading Quinn to wonder if the characters from Black’s book have sprung to life. Quinn’s search for answers plunges him deep into biblical texts, theories of the alphabet’s magical powers, angelic hierarchies, and myriad other subjects, and his quest is complicated further when Black’s publisher offers him a fortune to recover a manuscript from Black. The complex typography presents a challenge (be prepared to read sideways and upside down), but for the right reader, the author’s plethora of ideas and proliferating rabbit holes provides endless delights. Fans of Mark Danielewski will love this heady postmodern thriller. (Apr.)