Utterly spellbinding. I can't wait for the next installment. This book evokes the truly alien in a way few books do, whether in its fictional narrative or more mundane (or possible) observations of life in a tidepool or vacant lot. And rarely have I encountered such a unique unreliable narrator, whose recounting is compromised not only by her own reticence but also by hypnosis and the unreliability of her own senses.
It is eerie, compelling, and thoughtful, wonderfully blending the elements of an adventure tale into a restricted, possibly biologically contaminated area with the character of our narrator and her failing marriage and general inability to fit in with the world.
The measured and nuanced tone of the narrative places it exactly in that unsettling but real near-dream state you find in Kafka and Murakami. Given the very unreliability of narrator, I almost expect this trio of books to end up with the sort of interplay found in Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head or Cerberus, wherein each narrative reflects back upon and changes the meaning of what came before.If you're looking for something addictive, scary, and thoughtful, pick this one up.
