Zig Zag - book review

Science fiction has always fascinated me with the idea that the world can and will be a little different with each new scientific discovery. It is obvious that we're affected by the cumulative progress in science and science fiction allows an author to embellish a plot or introduce philosophical puzzles that would just not be believable in the world that we currently understand. But science fiction can become cumbersome if an author has to describe too much of the gap between today and "tomorrow".

Jose Carlos Somoza in his new book "Zig Zag" has done a marvelous job of introducing the reader to cutting edge theoretical physics, multi-dimensional space, and string theory to set the plot for a murder mystery that will keep you wondering through most of the book's 502 pages. The characters, for the most part, are well developed. You find yourself actually caring as some of them meet rather gruesome ends although just how gruesome is more hinted at than described. I also found it annoying how many times the phrase "she thought it was the worst thing she'd ever see, but it wasn't" or some variant.

For a story about unraveling time strings to view the past, we shouldn't be surprised that there are lots of flashbacks and discontinuities that leave a reader a little shaken but Somoza does everything for a purpose. By such jumps, he forces the reader to take careful note of important details.

I found it a very enjoyable book.