The lost female plot, feline fascination, and whimsicality of Haruki Murakami; the brain bending introspection of Paul Auster; the multi-faceted realities of Borges; and the “space between space” worlds of Neil Gaiman – are you noticing that this guy is in some serious company? “The Raw Shark Texts” is a sharp first novel with some beautiful – ahem – hooks. If you can’t get into this book, check yourself thoroughly for luxophages (a small vampirous “idea lamprey” parasite which removes the human ability to think quickly. “They tend to make their hosts quiet [...] well behaved and firmly entrenched in whatever rut they happen to be in.”)
If, on the other hand, you think you’d enjoy a well-written pastiche of the authors mentioned above, then you’re in for a quickly paced treat. The plot revolves around Eric Sanderson, a protagonist with with dissociative disorder so strong that he can’t recall who he is or anything from his past. Luckily, he has his pre-psychotic-break self to help. Nearly every day, Eric receives a package or a letter from his former self filled with cryptic puzzles and warnings of a dangerous “mnemonic predator” hunting him. The obscurity of these packages actually turn out to be a meaningful cloaking mechanism to keep him hidden from his predator. In an effort to rid himself of this malevolent hunter, Eric embarks on an adventure to find the only person he believes can help, a mysterious scientist by the name of Trey Fidorous, a doctor of language who may be able to help trap the creature, free Eric, and maybe even rediscover a past love from a past life that Eric may lost under mysterious circumstances.
TPN Rating: 4 stars out of 5 – An inventive and wild read with just a touch too much of Peter Benchley’s schmaltzy chum in the water.
