The Revelations
A Novel
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- £4.49
Publisher Description
An edgy and ambitious debut by a powerful new voice in contemporary literary fiction
Monday, Kierk wakes up. Once a rising star in neuroscience, Kierk Suren is now homeless, broken by his all-consuming quest to find a scientific theory of consciousness. But when he’s offered a spot in a prestigious postdoctoral program, he decides to rejoin society and vows not to self-destruct again. Instead of focusing on his work, however, Kierk becomes obsessed with another project—investigating the sudden and suspicious death of a colleague. As his search for truth brings him closer to Carmen Green, another postdoc, their list of suspects grows, along with the sense that something sinister may be happening all around them.
The Revelations, not unlike its main character, is ambitious and abrasive, challenging and disarming. Bursting with ideas, ranging from Greek mythology to the dark realities of animal testing, to some of the biggest unanswered questions facing scientists today, The Revelations is written in muscular, hypnotic prose, and its cyclically dreamlike structure pushes the boundaries of literary fiction. Erik Hoel has crafted a stunning debut of rare power—an intense look at cutting-edge science, consciousness, and human connection.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Neuroscientist Hoel's dizzying, impressive debut unloads a series of nefarious plots and suppositions surrounding a research program at NYU. Depressed neuroscience graduate student Kierk Suren, 27, accepts a postdoc position in the Francis Crick Scholarship program with seven other scientists. He immediately alienates his peers, judging them as intellectually inferior, and works on developing a radical theory of consciousness. When fellow postdoc Atif Tomalin is discovered dead on the subway tracks, Kierk and Carmen Green, a former model and another Crick fellow drawn to Kierk despite his surliness, suspect foul play and search for answers. Their paranoia grows as they infiltrate a student group opposed to the program's animal testing, and intensifies when a group of homeless people claim lab members have been kidnapping and lobotomizing people. Meanwhile, Kierk is tapped by the Department of Defense to help with a mind control program as his theory begins to take shape. Alarming nightmares, crises at the lab, and sexual attraction between Kierk and Carmen propel and confound their quest. While frequent debates over scientific theories and backstories on various characters can clutter the narrative, Hoel adeptly threads everything together by the end. Fast and furious, this mind-stretching novel makes the grade.
