verbicide | raw shark texts by steven hall

I'm so glad I read this after the horribleness of the Tim O'Brien book. I needed something to love.

From Amazon: Eric Sanderson wakes up in a house he doesn’t recognize, unable to remember anything of his life. All he has left are his diary entries recalling Clio, a perfect love who died under mysterious circumstances, and a house that may contain the secrets to Eric’s prior life. But there may be more to this story, or it may be a different story altogether. With the help of allies found on the fringes of society, Eric embarks on an edge-of-your-seat journey to uncover the truth about himself and to escape the predatory forces that threaten to consume him

I was sort of caught off guard by the awesomeness of this book. And I absolutely love how he writes--he had tons of sentences that, had I bought this for the Kindle, I would have flagged. The pacing was thrilling, and the story was so imaginative. The characters were fascinating and often lovable. I loved the main guy, and I really felt so worried for him! I was even thoroughly satisfied by the ending, even though I didn't quite predict it--it made total sense. I felt like I was transported right into the pages of the story--it felt visceral at times

Mild spoilers

I love that it starts off seeming so much like a regular mystery, then it goes whole-scale fantastical, and then comes back to reality in a way that was satisfying. As creative as the shark is, and as vividly as he writes about everything, it was hard to believe in a world where such things exist.

My favorite character had to be Ian, the cat. Two thumbs UP.