The Ticking Heart

I always suffer a little of bit of trepidation when an author I've followed for years releases a new book. I'm always waiting for the almost inevitable decline in quality in their writing. Happily, that is definitely isn't the case here. The Ticking Heart is classic Kaufman; a perfect amount humour, sweetness, as well as heart, encased in a crispy quirky coating.

The story was engaging from the onset, and the my only disappointment with the book was that it was over so quickly.

Just a genuine delightful read. Perfect little pick-me-up.

Highly recommended.

With kind thank to Netgalley and Coach House Books for the ARC. Will post to Goodreads.

The Ticking Heart was fun but not at all what I expected. Charlie seems to be stuck - still hung up on his ex-wife and in an ambivalent relationship - when he finds himself unexpectedly in Metaphoria, where everything is a metaphor and he is a detective. As Charlie tries to solve a mystery in order to save his own life he encounters both the denizens of Metaphoria and people from his real life (some of whom have been transformed entirely). Kaufman builds an interesting, all-encompassing world in Metaphoria, but I was surprised at how fast this one was - I read it really quickly. I think I expected more mystery and detective work, but it was really Charlie bumbling his way through the new world he's found himself in. I enjoyed it though and would recommend it to people looking for a light fantasy read.

One cold winter night, Charlie shares a cab with a stranger in a purple hat. As they talk, a cloud of purple smoke overwhelms him and he wakes up to find himself behind the only desk in the Epiphany Detective Agency. Charlie, as it turns out, is trapped in Metaphoria, an otherworldly place that reality has forgotten, a place where everything means something else. His first client is Shirley Kintsugi, who insists on hiring Charlie to find her husband's missing heart. In fact, she's so insistent that she replaces Charlie's heart with a bomb. He has twenty-four hours to find Twiggy Kintsugi's heart -- and its meaning -- or his own will explode.

OMG!! This was such a sweet, funny read. Charlie and Shirley are very easy to connect with. It becomes a race to save Charlie's own heart as well as Twiggy. Very amusing and also touching and intense. Love The Ticking Heart.
10 stars.