garote | If This Book Exists, You're In The Wrong Universe

Best enjoyed: On a long ride
Enjoyment rating (1-10) : 7
Distraction level (1-5) : 3

Fourth in a series. Entertaining characters, very intricately plotted. Part horror show, part observational comedy. No PSA-level rants about depression or survival skills this time around.

Pargin is a very strong writer in his narrow wheelhouse. He knows nerds, he knows about working-class american suffering, he knows his audience. His materialist, atheistic, engineering brain is a constant source of mini-essays which he staples roughly into his stories to add texture and perspective, sometimes not being too careful about which character gets which monologue. Entire scenes of dialogue or even plot points can feel like he constructed them from an essay outward, so he can include one he's particularly proud of.

But in the grand scheme, you don't care, because the plots are such fun to unravel and the unreliable narrator of John is so endearing. Not so much with Amy, whom Jason has struggled for several books now to try and turn into a real character. The trouble seems to be a bit of hero worship, as though he's basing Amy on someone in the real world that he has placed on a pedestal.

I blasted though this book in two days. Fun stuff!

Seven out of ten invisible alien creatures up.