This book was just published this year, so I don’t know if anyone else has read it yet. I finished reading the book last night, and I’d been excited about picking it up since reading a review in a magazine. I’m looking for some feedback/discussion.
Okay, so Will Heller is schizophrenic, and in theory had his first break when he was 12, and then at 14 went away for two years to some sort of residential treatment facility. Unfortunately for me, I’m a social worker and know that onset of symptoms at age 12 is pretty damn unusual, so I got taken out of the book early on. I had a hard time just going with the flow when I was thinking “usual onset isn’t until age 18 dammit!” Professional knowledge bit me in the ass, heh.
The other thing that I was a little confused about was the ending. As I neared the end, maybe the last 10 pages, I started trying to figure out how the story would end, and guessed at Will committing suicide…in particular, as the scene was set, jumping in front of a train. However the way it was written, I wasn’t sure if that was what happened exactly. I didn’t understand what the “ghost train” was, and then saying that the world ended in fire? I think I’m also just a bit frustrated because I enjoyed the book but not as much as I would’ve liked.
FWIW, I found it very easy to imagine the story as a movie in my mind, and saw either Laurence Fishburn or Terrence Howard as Detective Lateef.