A Man of Shadows: A Nyquist Mystery Novel - Crime Thriller Book for Adults | Perfect for Mystery Lovers & Book Club Discussions

Noon invites readers into a surreal, bifurcated city. In one half, "the sky, the real sky, which even the oldest residents cannot remember seeing, is hidden behind a vast tangled web of neon signs, fluorescent images, fiery lamps, gas flames, polished steel struts, and decorative mosaics of glass;" in the other, the lights have burnt out, leaving inhabitants to sleep--or worship the darkness. Between lies the dusk, an ambiguous swath of mist, memories, monsters, and magic.A characteristically tortured--and drunk--private eye searches for a the beautiful daughter of a city father (sounds vaguely familiar, right?). You can see this novel as an allegory for many things, the blending of literary forms and genres, the temporal dislocation of late capitalism, even the inevitability of one's fate (astute readers will see some PKD-like predestination play here), but any one reading seems reductive. The real power of this novel comes from the dreamlike intensity of Noon's images and prose, which, like the heart of his city, are shrouded in mist.