Maxwell's Demon
A Novel
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
This autumn, life is catching up with Thomas Quinn.
Five years ago, his sometime friend Andrew Black wrote
a mystery novel that sold a million copies and then disappeared. Now could it
be that Quinn is being stalked by the hero of Black’s book? His wife, Imogen,
usually has the answers, but she’s working on the other side of the world and
talking to her on webcam just isn’t the same.
Quinn finds himself in a world that might well be
coming apart at the seams. If he can find Black, he might start finding
answers.
Maxwell’s Demon forges
an entirely new blend of mystery—somewhere between detective fiction, ghost
story and philosophical quest. Providing the same white-knuckle thrills as
Hall’s first novel, The Raw Shark Texts, this new book is also a
freewheeling investigation into the magic power locked inside the alphabet,
love through the looking glass, the bond between parents and children and, at
its heart, the quest for meaning in a world that, with each passing season,
seems to become more chaotic and untidy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
