Infinite Ground
by Martin MacInnes
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Pub Date Aug 04 2016 | Archive Date Apr 05 2017
Description
A luminous debut novel of modern alienation, of the sinister beauty of the human body and of the enduring splendour of the natural world.
During a sweltering South American summer, a family convenes
for dinner at a restaurant. Midway through the meal, Carlos disappears. An
experienced, semi-retired inspector takes the case, but what should be a
routine investigation becomes something strange, intangible, even sinister. The
corporation for which Carlos worked seems to serve no purpose; the staff talk
of their missing colleague's alarming, shifting physical symptoms; a forensic
scientist uncovers evidence of curious abnormalities in the thriving
microorganisms that shared Carlos's body.
As the inspector relives and retraces the missing man's footsteps, the trail leads him away from the city sprawl and deep into the country's rainforest interior, where he encounters both horror and wonder.
Advance Praise
“Stunning - a totally original, surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of César Aira, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortázar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you've read anything quite like it.” Jeff VanderMeer
“An accomplished debut. It takes risks and challenges the narrative form. A brave new voice - Martin MacInnes is a writer to look out for.” Jenni Fagan
“Weird, wonderful, totally indefinable... If not the Booker, then surely the Goldsmiths beckons.” Guardian
“Brimming with strong, startling ideas... A curious and often remarkable book.” Literary Review
“An impressive and finely textured debut... This is fiction as a metaphorical labyrinth of the mind.” Edward Docx
“A talent of the first rank... We want to be informed and entertained, I might also say, provoked and enlarged, and Martin MacInnes delivers on all fronts with writing of genuine bravura and originality.” Christopher Potter, author of How to Make a Human Being
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781782399476 |
| PRICE | |
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Featured Reviews
Leslie G, Book Trade Professional
This is a brilliant book, set on out-foxing its readers. The generic form of a retired inspector called back to assist in a missing person's case seems to start off confidently enough - I suppose it was when we are told that the corporation he examines to help find clues employs actors to fill in as fake workers to build morale or other things, we should sense something is off - and the fake offices maintained in case of catastrophe. The widowed inspector gets more and more drawn in - and a forensic analyst reports microorganisms in the man's workspace that seem to indicate he was not only wasting away but it had infected his brain. Reports of fellow workers are interspersed eventually with a series of scenarios - and the inspector finally goes out to St Lucia where the incredible happens. It's all about disappearances and constrained working lives ... Grabbed me hard although I did not get explanations I wanted - and a whole population of a town disappears. Weird book, adept writer.
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