To review this book is easy. It’s extraordinary – read it immediately! To summarise is much harder. It’s 1962 America. A young physics student, Gracie, works in a diner and serves Bobby pie. An FBI agent storms the diner and accuses Bobby of planting a bomb to blow up city hall. Suddenly they are on the run and Gracie will learn that reality and the universe are not what she has been taught to believe.
The novel travels in time and place – there are seemingly unconnected stories about Samurais, Mayans, astronauts, rock stars, Nazis, tech billionaires and a mad artist. These short chapters are often violent but also gripping and form the first half of the book. I couldn’t put this book down, as I was compelled to discover how they are all connected. The second half of the novel focuses more on Gracie and Bobby and exploring reality and time in the universe.
Psalms for the End of the World is fresh, bold and ambitious. It is a complicated concept but Haddon does a great job pulling the many threads together. Haddon is a film, screen and graphic novel writer which is evident as I felt as though I was watching the movie as I read. It’s multi-coloured, multi-dimensional and pulsing with creativity.
As excellent as this book is, it will not appeal to everyone. It is 500 pages with many characters to keep track of. Best for reading in large chunks. I highly recommend this novel.
Reviewed by Nicola Skinstad
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cole Haddon is an Australian-American novelist, screenwriter, and journalist. Dracula, his first television commission, was produced by NBC and Sky Living starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and he has gone on to develop dozens of feature films and TV series around the globe – most recently Genocidal Organ for director Park Chan-wook (Old Boy) and the rock musical Zombie Broadway for The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and director Jonas Åkerlund (Lords of Chaos).
His graphic novels have been published by Dark Horse and others. His articles have appeared in the Melbourne Age, Sydney Morning Herald, and Village Voice Media, among others. Psalms for the End of the World, his first novel, was released in 2022. He lives in the Blue Mountains of Australia with his wife and two children.
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