A 2013 novel by Thomas Pynchon, it is the story of Maxine Tarnow, a private fraud investigator found herself embroiled in a web of conspiracies and plots that tied-in with the collapse of dotcom boom and the tragedy of 9/11.
Like Pynchon’s other work, it gets complicated from there.
The setting returns back to New York, which was last explored in V.
Tropes found in this novel:
- Arc Words: DeepArcher.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mason-Dixon Line was mentioned early in the novel.
- It could be said that Maxine was the child who answered Oedipa’s phone call in The Crying of Lot 49.
- Kudzu Plot: As the book progresses, it slowly loses focus on the plot and at some point, one will realize that there are so many plot threads to untangle and lead to endless of loose ends.
- Lighter and Softer: Despite the occurence of 9/11 and one or two characters killed off, it was nowhere near as bleak and depressing as his previous work, particularly Vineland.
- Mind Screw: It’s Pynchon, are you surprised?
- No Ending: It ends with Maxine telling her boys to went down without her and that, she saw them riding the elevator.
New York as a character in a mystery would not be the detective, would not be the murderer. It would be the enigmatic suspect who knows the real story but isn’t going to tell it.
