Staff Pick
I first read this book in seventh grade at the urging of my English teacher, and just read it again for the second time. It has saved my life both times. Hall weaves a thrilling, mind-blowing, bending, and boggling tale, asking you to suspend every belief you have about reality. But, in doing so, he teaches you about the power thoughts and words can have in our lives and the power we can have over them. It's a beautiful combination of an emotional piece of literary fiction and a page-turning thriller and you won't be able to put it down. Recommended By Alec B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
I was unconscious. I'd stopped breathing. I don't know how long it lasted, but the engines and drivers that keep the human machine functioning at a mechanical level must have trip-switched, responding to the stillness with a general systems panic. Autopilot failure--switch to emergency manual override. This is how my life started, my second life. So begins The Raw Shark Texts, the startlingly original debut novel from Steven Hall that is already electrifying booksellers and publishers all over the world. Eric Sanderson wakes up one day with no idea who or where he is. A note instructs him to call a Dr. Randle, who informs him that he is undergoing yet another episode of memory loss and that for the last two years--since the tragic death of his great love, Clio, while vacationing in Greece--he's been suffering from an acute disassociative disorder. But there may be more to the story, or it may be a different story altogether. As Eric Sanderson begins to examine letters and papers left behind by the first Eric Sanderson and the staggering tale they seem to contain, he and the reader embark on a quest to recover the truth and to escape the predatory forces that threaten to devour him. Moving with the pace and momentum of a superb thriller, exploring ideas about language and information as well as identity, The Raw Shark Texts is a brilliant novel about the magnitude of love and the devastating effect of losing that love. It will dazzle you, it will move you, and it will leave an indelible imprint like nothing you have read in a long time.
Review
Exhilarating.”
Entertainment WeeklyRousingly inventive.” The Washington Post
Unforgettable fiction.” Playboy
A thriller that will haunt you.” GQ
Sharp and clear
writing on the edge of the form.” Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
The Raw Shark Texts, called “clever, playful . . . sharp and clear” by the Los Angeles Times and “a horror-dystopic-philosophical mash-up” by the New York Times Magazine, is a novel unlike any other. Eric Sanderson wakes up in a house one day with no idea who or where he is. Instructed by a mysterious note to visit a Dr. Randle, Eric learns that the agony of losing the love of his life in a scuba-diving accident three years before has destroyed his memory. But there may be more to the story, or it may be a different story altogether. As Eric begins to examine letters and papers left in the house by “the first Eric Sanderson,” a staggeringly different explanation for what is happening to Eric emerges, and he and the reader embark on a quest to recover the truth and escape the remorseless predatory forces that threatens to devour him. The Raw Shark Texts is a kaleidoscopic novel about the magnitude of love and the devastating effect of losing that love.
Synopsis
Moving with the pace and momentum of a superb thriller, exploring ideas about language and information as well as identity, "The Raw Shark Texts" is ultimately a novel about the magnitude of love and the devastating effect of losing that love.
Synopsis
A thrillingly original novel published in thirty-three countries to worldwide acclaim,
The New York Times Magazine called
The Raw Shark Texts a genre-founding work of fiction.
Eric Sanderson wakes up in a house he doesnt 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 Erics 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. Moving with the pace of a superb thriller, The Raw Shark Texts has sparked the imaginations of readers around the world and is one of the most talked-about novels in years.