Lexicon by Max Barry

 

I remembered seeing parts of this novel back when I was recording audiobooks (we who operated the equipment didn't usually get to read whole books) and it looked interesting then, so when I stumbled across it in the library I figured I'd check it out. It is, in fact interesting, a reasonable thriller that has a vague sense of magic about it--which might just be connected to some specific woo, or which might be connected to something more "scientific," like Chomsky--though as a callback to my Ludlum thing, isn't mostly a pursuit novel, and is remarkably nonlinear (though it's much clearer about when you are than the last few heavily nonlinear books I've read have been). It's even got some vaguely interesting thematic concerns--free will, identity, the power of love (cue Huey Lewis ...). I mean, the core premise is implausible, but that aside the novel is really good; I'm seriously pleasantly surprised by that.