Joe Rose is spending the afternoon in the park with his longtime girlfriend Clarissa, when his life is changed forever. A hot air balloon carrying a man and his grandson is headed for disaster, and as Joe and several strangers attempt to ground it, one of them is killed. It’s one of the most intense and harrowing openings I’ve ever read.
Following the incident, Joe, who is a staunchly rational science writer, is plagued by the horrible randomness of the tragedy and his involvement in it. Meanwhile, Jed, one of the strangers who participated in the rescue attempt, becomes obsessed with Joe: he’s convinced that they fell in love that day, and that it’s his duty to show Joe God’s love.
As Jed continues to stalk Joe, Joe becomes consumed by paranoia on top of the guilt he feels from that day. It doesn’t help that no one takes his concerns about Jed seriously—including Clarissa.
This is a super compelling read. The prose is gorgeous, and the ongoing analysis of morality, guilt, responsibility and self-preservation is deeply fascinating. In fact, I think this book would have been interesting enough without all the craziness revolving around Jed. Parts of that storyline are certainly interesting, but it becomes slightly over the top.
It’s the subtler parts of the story that are most satisfying—such as Joe’s encounter with the dead man’s wife, who fears he was cheating on her the day he died. There’s a lot of layered complexity throughout as the characters’ perceptions and subjective realities are challenged. In order to convince others, we must first convince ourselves—but to what lengths, and at what cost?
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