The Truth About Sharks and Pigeons
Matt Phillips
Accessed as an e-book
$2.99 on Amazon at time of review
320 pages
I have to admit that this was a sleeper book for me, in that it wasn’t until I was in the second half of the book that I realized I did in fact enjoy it.
Bill is about as ordinary and average as a person can be and still exist-so when he finds himself in a dark alley with a pigeon, what happens next is almost so incomprehensible for him that he fears he lost his mind. It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving too much of the driving force of the novel away-and I really feel that this is enough of an absurdist novel that you sort of need to experience it for yourself. However, I’ll give you a hint: it’s about the truth of the nature of both sharks and pigeons.
And sheep.
And corgis.
And the Queen of England.
I will say that this is definitely absurdist fantasy in the general vein of Piers Anthony, not horror, though it does have a fair share of generally pretty silly violence, such as any violence can be silly.
I experienced quite a bit of ‘what did I just read’ and ‘I’m really quite baffled’ and ‘wait, what was that about sheep?’-but for as many times as I questioned why I was reading this novel, I couldn’t stop reading it either.
If you need a break from heavy ‘traditional’ horror or fantasy, or your humor runs to the absurd [mine does, by the way], then I do recommend the book. Just don’t go into this one expecting a serious plot-and be aware you might find yourself side eying both sheep and corgis for awhile.