Petrichor Paperback – August 1, 2013

Disclosure: I have forthcoming work with Pelekinesis, the publisher of Petrichor.I don't know David Scott Ewers, but after finishing Petrichor I trust him implicitly. He could ask me to read just about anything, and I'd leap at the chance. His words have left me with two impressions of the man behind them: a wild-eyed master of ideas, and a careful, secretive stonemason.In the aspect of the former, Ewers reminds me of one of my childhood friends. This kid would present ideas such as: "Let's make grenades out of old tennis balls, black powder, and duct tape," or: "Let's see if we can get this four-wheeler to tip over while we're riding it." Ideas that depended on the infectious delivery, and the sheer promise of enduring memories, presuming we managed to survive long enough to form 'em.Ewers doesn't trigger my fight-or-flight response like my buddy did, but Petrichor is a similar sort of scheme. You watch the ideas start to flow and you choose either to go along for the ride, or you commit mutiny. For me, Petrichor is a novel from which I hear the author saying: "Let's put these fruits, drugs, metal shavings, printed circuits, dollar bills, and a duck into the blender, hit 'frappe,' and drink the results," and: "You sit here. I'm going to build a Fortean museum around you."It's when he starts to build this structure out of disparate elements that Ewers' seeming madness proves that it's backed by a truckload of skill. With all the pieces arrayed around you, introduced neatly in an economical first few sections, you might be forgiven for thinking the result would collapse once assembled. I don't think very many people would think less of you if you ducked out before completion, but you would sure be missing out on something not only special, but rock-solid stable and lovely. It's weird, sure, but it stands on its own.Petrichor is a condensation of a wild array of vapors, a book that feels solid and bulging with strange life. It's got the same weird qualities that attract me to Murakami, the same left-field believability that makes David Foster Wallace so delightful, and a distinct, direct style that makes the digestion easy even if the full comprehension trails a bit behind.I loved something on every page and I recommend it highly!

I couldn't put it down and read it twice. It seemed synchronous with thoughts that had been rattling around in my head- is it zeitgeist? Engaging plot, strong characters and a bit of mystery, what more could you want? It was a super entertaining and funny read!