The White Forest by Adam McOmber. It was sent to me as a review copy, and I do try to get around to those once in a while. I like this novel, which is set in Victorian London and features a narrator who has a strange "talent" for hearing the voices of inanimate objects. The central story is a mystery about the disappearance of the narrator's friend, who was involved in a cult-like organization. Overall the novel is pretty good but very dense; I can only read it in bite-sized chunks, which is why it is taking me so long. Well, that and I'm busy with other things as well.
One thing about The White Forest is that it skips around in time a bit, with the narrator remembering things and such. In many cases this is used to build tension around the core mystery, but sometimes the gimmick draws too much attention to itself. I still like the book, though. Really, really dislike the narrator's friend Maddy (not the one who is missing but another "friend" who isn't much of one at all, at least not thus far; maybe it's just I knew too many people like her back in the day).
Since I haven't yet finished the book, I can't say whether I'd recommend it, but so far I'd tell my friends who like supernatural mysteries that it's a good read.
And next on my stack is The Heart Broke In by James Meek, which I read a review of somewhere and found myself intrigued. I don't even remember now what it's about, but I do recall thinking while I read the review that it maybe reminded me of Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked, which is one of my favorite books. We'll see how it goes. I'll have it with me on my Kindle as I travel next week.
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