I enjoyed this book, but its not for everyone...
From page one I was hooked on this fast-paced, interesting debut novel about a happliy married man who goes into a gas station to get a snack and comes out to find his wife and car missing.
The book is written in rather simple prose, which makes for an extremely fast read, however, there is a lot of depth and meaning underlying the simplicity of the words and sentences. So despite reading quickly, you're left pondering how John Haskell was able to so precisely capture raw human emotion, while using such deadpan prose.
He has a unique writing style, but one which is extremely admirable, as he so wonderfully taps into how the protagnoist must have felt at each stage of his "search" for his wife, while experiencing each of the seven deadly sins (named in Latin for each part of the book).
I really enjoyed this novel, but don't think its for everyone, so I have a hard time recommending it so highly in this review. If you're looking for something different, very well-written, and which captures the complexity of human emotion during a difficult time, this book will likely interest you. If you're on-the-fence, I recommend reading the first chapter before purchasing it, to get an idea about the style in which it is written. I would likely read another novel by this author, as I believe he is very gifted, and provides interesting insight into the human condition.
