Nefando

The bracing latest from Ecuadorian writer Ojeda (Jawbone) documents the raw experiences of six roommates in Barcelona. Kiki is a writer composing a pornographic novel “to explore the most unsettling things; to say what cannot be said.” Ivan, another writer, is immersed in private BDSM fantasies. Siblings Irene, Emilio, and Cecilia recoil when videos of their father’s sexual abuse of them as children are posted online. They decide to process the trauma by having their friend and roommate El Cuco import the videos into his video game, Nefando. El Cuco, who’s also a hacker and a thief, revels in the transgressive project, which is outlawed after it goes viral. Though the specifics of Nefando remain enigmatic (it’s described only as a “representation of the shit that’s all around us”), the game is clearly designed to invite players to indulge in their voyeuristic impulses. Ojeda laces her prose with erudite references to the complex alternate realities crafted by Philip K. Dick and William Gibson. This creepy tale plumbs the uncanniness of virtual reality to powerful effect. (Oct.)