The premise of this book is very interesting because it reads like a book within a book. The author has built the narrative like a kaleidoscope presenting the story and giving glimpses of the actual story hiding behind it. It’s quite a tantalizing experience to read this novel.
The story begins with Faye Mathis who is struggling to finish her new novel. Like her earlier books, this upcoming one also features a set of twins battling fictitious battles in a fantasy world. Despite moving to her favourite writing retreat, she still struggles to write anything substantial considering she has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. So, she is always teetering on the edges of actual and perceived reality. She blames it on her medication and worsening mental faculties.
Is it really what she is seeing or sensing around her is an absurd dream? The answer to this question gets more muddled when Faye sees her photo which shows her wandering half-naked through the streets in the early hours. The photo goes viral and she decides to uncover the truth behind it.
The rest of the story line is all about this unmasking of truth. As mentioned before, the real strength lies in the way the author has built these characters. Especially, Faye’s with her untrustworthy understanding of the world which further extends to the people she meets in this fact-finding mission.
Of course, the unreliable narrator is a favourite fiction trope at the moment. In this scenario however, we know that our protagonist is unreliable due to her medical state which renders her entire perception of the unfolding events unreliable until the very end.
Sharply written narrative which gets bit dull towards the end but not quite boring, makes it a good thriller choice for your summer vacation reading.
Enjoy, happy reading!