Sync

Brigid Sullivan, the protagonist of Kyle’s middling debut, is driving back to Boston after visiting her dementia-afflicted mother in Vermont when she decides to pick up a scruffy-looking hitchhiker. Even after Brigid suspects that her passenger, who calls himself John, may be a “homeless madman or criminal,” she goes above and beyond on his behalf. Brigid disregards his request to be dropped at a nearby train station and ends up taking him home, persisting even after it’s clear that sheltering John comes with great risk. When a stranger breaks into her home and attacks her dog, Brigid fends him off, takes John with her to stay at a seedy motel, and lies to the police about what happened . Eventually, John tells her that he was a participant in experiments on human subjects that seek proof of the existence of parallel universes, but flat prose and underdeveloped characters undercut the impact of that revelation. Brigid’s implausible actions make it tough for the reader to suspend disbelief in the story’s science-fictional premise. Other authors have done a better job of using a multiverse as a focal point. [em](May) [/em]