Thanks to the publisher for the free read but I can't finish it. What an unappealing, unlikable hero. His "best friend" he couldn't give a damn about. Even when said best friend died he couldn't be bothered to grieve. He already spun that death to his advantage hours after the funeral. He didn't want to see him or speak with him or collaborate with him but after he died, he proclaimed that they both wanted said collaboration. What an absolute egocentric ass. Then one moment he's pining over a dead wife and swearing to be a bachelor forever, next he's already lusting after a much younger woman (cue insta-love). Disgusting. I find the writing sort of pretentious too, No matter how much he tries to make it a literary fiction by using fancy words and trying to be boring as heck (news flash, it already is), it just isn't literary fiction material. Constantly comparing people to actual people gets old fast. Can't you make your own characters? Yeah, 0 stars.

I had a lot of trouble with this book. Although the blurb sounded interesting to me what I did read was well written, I tried several times to get into the book but kept rereading the same several pages. I am DNFing it and would prefer no to rate it since I didn't finish it, I will give it three stars and will not post on Good Reads..

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Lost Theory by Michael Kelley

I enjoyed this read. It travelled to a part of the world I have never been , Kathmandu. The story clips a large range of genres and successfully captures: adventure, good vs evil, natural disasters, corruption, death, AI, spirituality, culture and Big Love.

The bumbling Sean McQueen is a literature professor at NYU who is launched into this journey with Emily Edens a quantum cosmologist, to find a deceased friend’s ‘Theory of Everything’ that could change how humanity sees the relationship between science and spirituality.

The book is a good pace. The diverse range of characters gives room to learn different perspectives. Kelley’s writing style is engaging and deliberate. I will give this 3.5/5. I felt the ending fell a bit flat.

Interesting but not really my cup of tea. Well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Predictable and honestly it was a struggle to keep my interest. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review, I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

As others have mentioned, this was a tough book to read. And honestly, I threw in the towel at 50%. It just wasn't holding my interest. I found the writing to be...I don't know the right word...flowery? Pretentious? The constant verbal diarrhea from Sean about his attraction to M just about did my head in. 😵‍💫 It was SO over the top, and I don't know a single 45-year-old man that would constantly think and speak like that. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Anyway, every book will not be a hit. C'est la vie!

**ARC Via NetGalley**

The reluctant lit professor thrust into the world of mystics and symbols and the legacy of a friend lost through time and experience. Sean McQueen takes up the mantle to uncover the link between science and spirituality. A journey that will take this settled professor out into a world he had lost sight of, into a maze he may not survive.happy reading.

I wouldn't call this high art, but it is a well written page-turner. I stayed engaged and liked this overall. I think those that like thrillers will dig this one. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free review copy!!

Book is about a literary professor who is supposed to meet his best friend. The friend is going to share his Theory of Everything with him. But the friend dies the evening before the meeting. That starts the professor on a quest to find the theory. I enjoyed the book. It's a great first novel by Kelley.

THE LOST THEORY, by Michael Kelley, follows Sean McQueen who is looking for a theory that is so transcendent and world changing that Sean, along with Emily Edens (who Sean calls M) has to dodge shady government agents abroad and domestic and all the while find clues that will hopefully guide him to the mysterious written theory before anyone else can get their hands on it.
This theory, which was written by Sean's old friend, Dylan, carries Sean and M from New York all the way to Kathmandu. While in New York, there is a somewhat frantic and heightened feel that comes across in the writing that when the reader is whisked away to Kathmandu, immediately the entire vibe of the book shifts to a calm, easy-going approach to their journey. That underlying tone strips away much of the New York distractions and leaves Sean and M not only to have more clarity in how they approach the search, but also fosters their budding romantic relationship. The story does at a certain point seem to just about grind to a halt in Kathmandu and only a forced need to return to their lives eventually pushes Sean and M forward in the search. There is quite a colorful supporting cast of interesting characters that add plenty of depth to the book and are all fascinating people in their own right. The end of the book is quite exciting and has a really rewarding finish, I just wanted to get there a little faster.
Epic in the scope, THE LOST THEORY is also an intimate tale of Sean McQueen finding out who he really is and what amazing things he is capable of. This book will inspire it's readers to look inward to revaluate who they are and who they can be.

This is not an easy book to read as it makes many, many references to other books, authors, science theories, events in the past and mixes them with mystery and a lot of imagination. It's rather different and makes you curious enough to keep on reading and trying to understand what is going on. It's intriguing!!!

I really wanted to like this book - the idea of the overlap between Physics and Metaphysics was intriguing topic for a book of fiction.
The first chapter was quite promising with lots of interesting quotes. Then it started unraveling for me. The main character became too Woody Allen-esque with self-indulgent, long winded ‘insights’ alternating with adolescent fantasizing about the heroine of the piece, a statuesque (of course) and brilliant (of course) Quantum Physicist.
In the end (not that I got anywhere the end) I just flipped through to find out what they had to say about the Theory of Everything (which was not very exciting after all) and spent my time on more useful pursuits.
Thanks to NetGallery for providing this e-book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I absolutely LOVE science fiction books. Some of my favourite books ever written are in fact science fiction. So you can only imagine how much I adored this book. I really do love and appreciate when authors add in a variety of scientific concepts into their books because I love reading about then whether they are fiction or non fiction. This was really fun I loved it and will for sure pick up other works by this author in the future!