It’s not easy to describe
Schrödinger’s Gat. Is it science fiction, or is it a mystery novel?
Akin to the dead/alive cat in the famous thought experiment of physicist
Erwin Schrödinger, it is at once both – and neither.
Schrödinger’s Gat, the latest novel from author Robert Kroese (
Disenchanted, the
Mercury series), is a gripping, surreal thriller set in the San Francisco Bay area. Not
as lighthearted or comical as the author’s previous works, the protagonist of
Schrödinger’s Gat is foul-mouthed,
recently divorced school teacher Paul Bayes, whom we meet as he is on the verge
of committing suicide at a train station. He is stopped at the last second by a
young lady who oddly seems to have known in advance that he’d be there, and who
indeed was present just to stop him (or was she?).
In the ensuing hours, Bayes learns that this frazzled woman
actually has access to technology that allows her to foresee certain tragedies,
and perhaps prevent them. And then she disappears, fulfilling the promise of
the book’s tagline, “You can fight the future, but the future fights
back.” Bayes’ attempts to find the young lady lead him to even more fantastical
discoveries, in a unique, unpredictable plot that twists
and turns through (mad?) scientists, disasters – natural and otherwise – and
discussions of quantum mechanics and philosophy.
I have to admit, I not only enjoyed this book, I felt
smarter after I read it. Because so much of the plot is driven by the theories
and oddities of the behavior of subatomic particles (the quirks of quarks, if
you will), Kroese often has the protagonist share what he’s learning on the
subject as we go. If that doesn’t sound like your thing, fear not – the author
conveniently labels the parts you can skip without missing out on the plot. But
I found them intriguing and interesting. Hey, even if the “how” or “why” of it
all goes over your head, you’ll be dazzled by how the smaller parts of our
universe don’t seem to play by the rules.
In all, Schrödinger’s Gat
is a page-turner – dark and science-driven, yes, but compelling and
thought-provoking. In Gat, author
Robert Kroese has crafted a fascinating story that recalls Heisenberg’s famous
uncertainty principle: you may know where you are, but you have no idea where
you’re going.
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