noir plot that eventually makes its way through some Invisible Cities.

plus one star for the candid afterword, in which the author states as much. ( )

Initially, I thought this was homage to the noir genre made popular by Raymond Chandler—with the woman in distress and characters named Malory and Carver. However, it quickly morphs into a surrealistic journey through a landscape that becomes increasingly strange. The narrator is Walker, an ex-convict who used to be a tracker, but has recently retired since tracking has become a crime. He takes up the case of finding Malory for the woman for dubious reasons—possibly seeking sexual favors. He has few leads and his rationales become increasingly dubious as the novel progresses. In fact the search rapidly becomes secondary to his weird journey through a series of strange cities. The outcome is exciting enough but seems abrupt and leaves much unanswered (e.g., why is Carver so intent of killing Walker?). Because of its obscurity, this is not a very satisfying read. ( )

A perfect beach book. Starts off as a classic noir mystery, pretty dame needs help finding a missing man. About half way through the book, without you realizing it, our hero has wandered into a phantasmagorical alter universe. Adventure and philosophy follow. Raymond Chandler meets The Twilight Zone. ( )