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The Flicker Men: A Novel by [Ted Kosmatka]

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Ted Kosmatka

The Flicker Men: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Ted Kosmatka (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

148 ratings

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"A high-speed thriller. . . . The pages turn rapidly with well-orchestrated suspense." - The New York Times

"If Stephen Hawking and Stephen King wrote a novel together, you'd get The Flicker Men. Brilliant, disturbing, and beautifully told." -Hugh Howey, New York Times bestselling author of the Wool series

A quantum physicist shocks the world with a startling experiment, igniting a struggle between science and theology, free will and fate, and antagonizing forces not known to exist

Eric Argus is a washout. His prodigious early work clouded his reputation and strained his sanity. But an old friend gives him another chance, an opportunity to step back into the light.

With three months to produce new research, Eric replicates the paradoxical double-slit experiment to see for himself the mysterious dual nature of light and matter. A simple but unprecedented inference blooms into a staggering discovery about human consciousness and the structure of the universe.

His findings are celebrated and condemned in equal measure. But no one can predict where the truth will lead. And as Eric seeks to understand the unfolding revelations, he must evade shadowy pursuers who believe he knows entirely too much already.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Henry Holt and Co.
Publication date

July 21, 2015
File size

1132 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

If Stephen Hawking and Stephen King wrote a novel together, you'd get The Flicker Men. Brilliant, disturbing, and beautifully told.

-- "Hugh Howey, New York Times bestselling author"

A high-speed thriller...The pages turn rapidly with well-orchestrated suspense.

-- "New York Times"

An original, smart physics thriller...Kosmatka writes with great skill and...sells his concepts so well that it's hard to pinpoint where the real science ends...A fun, exciting read.

-- "Missourian"

Kosmatka has taken a complex scientific paradox and turned it into a rapid race against time.

-- "Shelf Awareness"

So intriguing that I was able to enjoy the book even though I personally didn't understand all the aspects of the experiment...The story walked a fine line between science and science-fiction, and should please fans of both.

-- "Mystery Scene Magazine"

The most interesting science thriller I've read this year...The Flicker Men twists the weird implications of the [double-slit] experiment into a narrative that is both surprising and philosophically rich...A five-star read.

-- "Science Thrillers"

Kosmatka effectively harnesses his impressive imagination in the service of a mind-blowing plot in this outstanding SF thriller...Ingenious plot twists, well-realized characters, and superior prose elevate this above similar books.

-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

Brilliant...This well-written and fast-paced scientific thriller builds into beautiful and suspenseful crescendo.

-- "Library Journal (starred review)"

A first-rate thriller.

-- "Booklist"

Kosmatka's novel delivers a number of thrills, along with believable science and ominous themes.

-- "Kirkus Reviews" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Ted Kosmatka was born and raised in Chesterton, Indiana. He is the author of Prophet of Bones and The Games, a finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2012. His short fiction has been nominated for both the Nebula and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and has appeared in numerous Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest and works as a writer in the video game industry.

Keith Szarabajka has appeared in many films, including The Dark Knight, Missing, and A Perfect World, and on such television shows as The Equalizer, Angel, Cold Case, Golden Years, and Profit. Szarabajka has also appeared in several episodes of Selected Shorts for National Public Radio. He won the 2001 Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction for his reading of Tom Robbins' Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and has won several Earphones Awards.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN : B00S54VT76
Publisher : Henry Holt and Co.; First edition (July 21, 2015)
Publication date : July 21, 2015
Language : English
File size : 1132 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 352 pages
Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #280,614 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #906 in Alternative History
- #1,087 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books)
- #1,947 in Conspiracy Thrillers (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
148 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		52%
4 star		25%
3 star		14%
2 star		6%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Mad Doggerel

So much potential. So very close to greatness.

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2016

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If I had this book taken from me at about one-third finished, I'd have bought a second copy for sure. The opening third of this book is magnificent work.

After that third, the book takes a turn into a full-blown thriller, which I found much less engaging than the interplay of quantum mechanics, psychology and chemical dependency that marks the beginning. It's not a BAD thriller by any stretch, but the beginning of this book had primed me to have my mind blown, and I didn't feel the end delivered on that promise.

The thriller portion itself is also heavily influenced by quantum mechanics, and accompanying philosophical discursions. The paranoia that arises from not knowing what layer of reality the narrative occupies reminded me of the films Inception and Pi.

Kosmatka is a much, much better prose stylist than most writers of thrillers. And he's basically on a par with Neal Stephenson in terms of integrating geek concepts with thriller plotlines, while showing a broader range of emotional expression than Stephenson demonstrates. But I got the impression that once he finally let the bullets start to fly, he got impatient to finish, and nearly abandoned all the brooding, uncertain, brilliant character development that could have made this book that rarest of gems: a genuinely literary thriller.

I'm keeping my eye out for more of his titles, though. He's got tremendous, tremendous talent.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

David North

Science Fiction with Some Science (Yay!)

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

The book stars out a little too antiseptic in writing style: textbook short sentences, etc. but when it moves to the scientific aspects it picks up. There are some surprises here and the characters are interesting and fairly well-defined. The pro and con of this book is the science. If you have no familiarity with basic quantum principles and aren't scientifically bent, you'll fin it a tougher read. On the flip side, having this basic knowledge makes the book very enjoyable.

You science purists out there may choke apoplectically over some of the author's uses of the science in the novel but in the areas covered there is enough room for the story if you can acept that, "We don't really know as much about the quantum universe as we like to pretend" (and we really don't). The author spends a lot of time without wasting dialogue educating the reader through the character on the twists and turns of quantum mechanics.

It's great foundational book for reading other novels in this particular genre and style and is as entertaining in the suspense and action as it is in the science realm.

7 people found this helpful

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Neil Hepworth

Puttin' the SCIENCE back in to Science Fiction

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2015

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But this time we’re gettin’ small - really small, like quantum mechanics small. And if there’s one area of science that makes no sense to a layperson, it’s quantum mechanics. If you feel completely out of the water when you start reading the novel, then a quick trip to YouTube for some background information on the Double Slit Experiment is a good place to start. You can read the book without a working knowledge of quantum mechanics, but a little refresher in the field is a good idea.

Eventually, though, your head starts to throb, and you just kinda give up trying to grasp all of the Science subtleties, and you just start to take Kosmatka’s word for it - strange, strange stuff happens when you get really, really small. Besides, if you wanna do the research on your own, Kosmatka provides a very nice bibliography in the back of the novel.

The real triumph of the book, however, is the fact that despite the brain-melting science, the book is still very readable and enjoyable (a feat that not all uber-hard science fiction novelists can pull off).

If there’s one area that could have been more (much more) it was the plot. The ethical dilemmas raised by the novel are touched on, but never focused on the way you sorta expect them to be. The book could have gone in several directions, but it seemed that Kosmatka really wanted to just look at the Science. It’s too bad, because there is a lot of plot that could have been created, but the book just doesn’t go there. The Science always came first, the plot a distant second. But the book was short enough and written well enough that it still worked.

Read this book for the Science - it’ll make either make you feel really smart or make you throw the book across the room in total frustration. The writing is very good, I thoroughly enjoyed the main character (this is how you write the drunken, broken protagonist, btw), and the action and intrigue is very engaging. I just wish he had spent another hundred pages or so fleshing out a more meaningful plot.

This book belongs on the shelf next to other novels with insane amounts of science such as Tau Zero, Blindsight, and The Quantum Thief - though The Flicker Men is much more approachable than all of them. If you liked any of these books, then The Flicker Men should be right up your alley.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tanggor

Very Entertaining and thought provoking

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

Another book I tried based on a recommendation from author Nick Cole.

Not sure what I expected, but once I started I had a very tough time putting it down. A really great ride that makes you think hard about the human perception of the universe and reality as we know it.

Would maybe have liked a deeper set of answers and resolution at the end, but it was still a very good end. And wanting the answers is kinda part of the whole issue, isn't it? And does the wanting itself affect the answer?

A great read.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jen

Good read. Also liked the audible

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book was recommended by one of my favorite authors, Hugh Howey. It was on sale and I was even able to get the audible for next to nothing.
It was slow going at first, as I started just with audible at bed time and kept having to go back because I would fall asleep (because I was tired and the guys voice was so darn soothing, not because it was boring)
A really great story. A lot of science that I had a bit of a struggle woth when it seemed to get technical but that no way took away from the writer making me understand what was happening. I really liked the characters and I was really sad at one point,for one in particular. I think this book would make a great movie, but that's just my opinion. I will definitely be checking out other work from Ted Kosmatka

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

podz

Collapsing wave function

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2016

Verified Purchase

A strange schizophrenic mash up exploring the science of interpretation of quantum mechanics and cheesey reluctant hero conspiracy thriller.
The Flicker Men just manages to be fun and readable. An interesting premise that dissolves into farce and parody: Characters introduced as nothing more than info dumps, gung-ho Die Hard set pieces, Baddies that explain themselves JUST long enough for the hero to escape, plot lines and back stories that fade away without resolution. All its missing is Blofeld stroking his cat saying " Frankly Mr Bond I expect you to die", and an ending of: "then they wake up and it's all a dream...but is it..."....or is it...
Just because The Flicker Men deals with "Hard" science, doesn't mean it should take itself quite so seriously, because the overall plot is too far fetched for that.
That being said, despite those "you are kidding me" facepalm moments I read it all and despite myself, kinda enjoyed it.

6 people found this helpful

goozer321

Oh dear.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2018

Verified Purchase

Whilst the action scenes are well written, the plot is absolute twaddle with a (yawn) multiverse and characters so poorly explained it makes no sense at all, a central character full of angst that is never fully explained (although it's possible I nodded off and missed it) and the most functional alcoholic I ever heard of. Nonsense.

One person found this helpful

Thomas Hope

Jumps the shark

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

Starts very well but then jumps the shark. The writing is excellent, and I really wanted to like it, but this book just lost me towards the end.

Amazon Customer

Great idea. Great start

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great idea. Great start. Goes from perhaps overly specific to overly general. And then loses its way. Worth reading but a difficult concept to develop successfully. And he does not.

Dave W

Decent Modern Sci Fi

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

Nice concept. Well written. What's not to like? I find a lot of new Sci-fi disappointing but this was enjoyable, if not mind blowing.

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